Covid creeping into industrial units; companies, workers face new hurdles

On Sunday, Hyundai Motor had said that in the first week of its operation, three of its employees showed mild symptoms of cough and cold and was tested positive for Covid-19

Even as the government is allowing industries to open their manufacturing units, it is subject to various restrictions. The industrial units in Chennai have already reported more than 20 Covid-19 positive cases in a short period of resuming operations with limited number of workers. The challenges faced by the companies include getting more tests done at an affordable cost, and keeping up the operations despite some of the employees are tested positive, among others.

On Sunday, Hyundai Motor India Ltd has said that in the first week of its operation, which started on May 8, 2020, three of its employees showed mild symptoms of cough and cold and was tested positive for Covid-19. Immediate medical attention was provided to them and all three are recovering fast towards normalcy, said the company. The telecom equipment manufacturer Nokia's facility near Chennai has reported that around 17 of its employees tested positive for Covid-19. Besides, some of the component manufacturers and a community kitchen which supplies to the industrial area of Ambattur also reported a few cases of the contagion.
 

The companies are facing various challenges amidst the unprecedented crisis. For instance, one of the ancillary units in Sriperumbudur says that after identifying a couple of workers with Covid-19, it has traced contacts and identified around 30-40 workers to be tested to ensure that others are safe. However, the government laboratories conduct tests only if there are symptoms and private laboratories it approached has sought Rs 7,000-18,000 for a single test, for which the government charges only Rs 650 per patient. Insurance reimbursement for the test is also not possible, which leaving the companies with no other option but to shell out larger amount for testing, said sources from the industry.

Many of the industries are preparing to live with Covid-19 and keep following the SPOs, but some of the small firms fear that the new situation will also result in harassment and abuses from the local authorities and increased corruption.

While initially there were interpretations that legal action may be taken against the CEO if a Covid-19 positive employee is found in the factory and the premises will be sealed for three months, Ministry of Home Affairs clarified that it is a misplaced apprehension. The state government officials also said that such a move would be harmful to both the industries and employees. However, a First Information Report (FIR) could be registered against the company if it is identified that it has violated the SOPs and the other guidelines issued by the Government under the National Disaster Management Act, and this will be done by the district administration.

A senior official from the state government said that there are not many cases reported from the companies in the state and most of the companies are following the standard operating procedures. If there is an infection, there is a protocol, which needs to be followed, to sanitise the particular area of the factory for the next few days and to quarantine those who were working close to the employee who has contracted with the disease. There might be a few cases, considering people are coming from society and the infection in the society will be there in the factories also and there is no need to be alarmed by it.

Workers' Unions have said that while the workers are afraid of getting contracted with the disease, there are minimum options for them also since they need to work for their livelihood. There are guidelines that the government has set for the industries to operate and the Union feels that in such unprecedented times, the only way to survive is to stick to these guidelines like social distancing, frequent sanitisation, and hand washing among other standard operating procedures.

"The Central and state governments have issued certain guidelines for the companies to adhere to while resuming operations and if there are some positive cases identified in the factory. Our complaint is that some of these companies are not properly implementing these procedures," said A Soundararajan, general secretary of CITU, Tamil Nadu. For instance, a single person used to supply parts to various employees in a shop floor. If a vehicle is manufactured, at least 20-30 people will handle the materials on it and the companies have to make sure that the sanitising protocols are strictly followed in these places. 

"The management should take care of those who are identified with the disease and provide them with the salary for the period of treatment and contain the disease immediately. Companies should also provide hand sanitiser, masks and disinfectants to the workers for the safety at their homes, considering home as a unit," CITU demanded these from the state government, district collector. 

"We want the factories to resume operations and works to be carried out. But at the same time, we are also afraid of Covid-19. There should be basic tests done on all employees, while more serious tests could be done on those who are showing some symptoms in the preliminary tests," Soundararajan said.

Hyundai has taken elaborate measures to prevent infection spread in its premises for its employees. An indicative list (not exhaustive) include inviting only employees who are physically fit through screening and other procedures; doorstep to doorstep safety including transporting employees to and from home with social distancing, sanitisation, enforcing usage of Personal Protective Equipment, touch-free setups wherever possible, well-planned nutritious food, immunity-boosting herbal drinks, no service of cold water, staggered lunchtimes to ensure social distancing, among others.

In case an employee has any symptoms, immediate medical screening and testing is done. Depending upon the outcome, referral to testing centre for further processes as per protocols, including sharing information with local authorities, immediate medical attention in a reputed hospital for further care etc are provided. Information is shared with family to ensure isolation, contact tracing etc., the department and immediate surroundings of the employee are completely disinfected and all employees who have worked closely with the infected employee are advised to self-isolate and are tested if required.

"It is not practically feasible to test all the workers considering the cost and the availability of kits and the best option for the companies and employees to follow the SOPs," said Aditya Narayan Mishra, director and CEO of CIEL HR Services. He said that the company used to recruit 1300-1400 employees before Covid-19, but now it is down by about 50 per cent.

While many of the companies stick to the transportation norms, by carrying restricted number of workers in buses and vans, some companies flout this norm by transporting workers as usual. Kancheepuram reported 285 positive case, Chengalpattu (779 cases) and Tiruvallur (731 cases), which together has one of the major automobile manufacturing hubs in the country, while Chennai has so far reported 10,576 positve cases. Tamil Nadu has seen the positive cases growing at over 700 a day for the last few days and currently has a total of 16,277 cases reported. Of this, 7,839 are active cases while 8,324 individuals were discharged after treatment. The death toll is 111 as of May 24, including eight reported on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the state government on Sunday allowed 17 industrial estates in the state including Guindy and Ambattur Industrial Estates to start operations with 25 per cent manpower from Monday, subject to various conditions including that those who are residing in the containment zones should not be allowed to come to work.

The conditions prescribed by the state government include daily thermal scanning for employees, compulsory wearing of a mask, strict compliance of social distancing, sanitisation of factories twice a day using disinfectants, cleaning of toilets every two hours, usage of hand sanitiser, apart from the standard operating procedures issues for operations during Covid-19 times. It also mentioned that employees who are above 55 years of age should not be allowed to work and if somebody develops a symptom, they should be restricted from coming to work immediately.