India Inc steps in to protect their employees from air pollution

With air pollution levels in the national capital area (NCR) crossing danger levels, corporate majors have come forward to protect their employees’ health by whatever means possible. These range from distributing masks to allowing flexi-shifts. 

“At SAIL (Steel Authority of India)'s various offices in Delhi, the employees have been advised to take precautionary measures including wearing masks. They also have been advised to limit their out-of-office assignments and conduct the work through telephone and e-mails. SAIL has already deployed air purifiers at various locations in its office premises,” said a spokesperson. 

Idea Cellular has provided face masks to its employees and allowed flexi-timings to assist them in reducing their exposure to pollutants in air. “Special buses will be plied to pick and drop employees from key locations and car pools are being planned so that vehicular movement is reduced. These facilities have been enabled for this entire week,” Idea Cellular said. 

E-commerce majors such as Paytm and Shopclues have also taken steps to save employees from pollution. Online mobile wallet giant Paytm has ordered top-of-the-line air purifiers to be installed on each floor of its office. The company would also bring in more plants indoors. “We are also planning to have solar panels to make our offices more environment-friendly. Given that the toxic air can trigger hacking coughs, we’ll distribute masks among all employees and offer immediate health assistance in case someone is unwell,” said a senior Paytm executive. 

The company also said they were encouraging colleagues to use public transport, or tele-conference instead of stepping outdoors. They are also being given the flexibility of working from home if they aren’t feeling well. 

Pollution levels have reached alarming levels in NCR. Sirifort in south Delhi and Anand Vihar in east Delhi, among other places, have registered high levels of pollution, both on particulate matter (PM) 2.5 and PM 10 scales. PM is a mixture of solids and liquid droplets floating in the air.