Tobacco Workers Skip Safety Measures at Work

Source from:  TNN 06/03/2010

BELGAUM: Researches and surveys declare tobacco a slow poison, which affects the human body, reduce power of resistance and affects the survival age factor. But, there are nearly 1,500 labourers at the tobacco refining units set up around Nippani area of Belgaum district, who are putting their lives at risk as they hardly follow any safety measures. The tobacco crop, grown over 40 km area of Nippani town called beedi tobacco, used to make beedis, is purchased by beedi units in North Karnataka and south Maharashtra. Tobacco is one of the traditional commercial crops of the region. Once the crop is harvested, it is cleaned and packaged by most of the refining units in Nippani and Akkol. Around 80% of these units are unregistered and do not provide health and other facilities to its labourers. Most units prefer women labourers to refine the crop after the harvest, which is hazardous to health, if proper safety measures are not taken. Unfortunately, these labourers do not employ such safety measures during work, despite the guidelines of the labour department, more so because these labours are illiterate and from very poor financial background. The most common health problems these labourers face are coughing and loss of appetite, with most of them prone to cancer and tuberculosis. However, the health risks for those making beedis are limited, with thousands of women earning their livelihood through this job. Leader of Tobacco Labours Union Sushash Joshi said, despite repeated efforts, they have failed to convince labourers to use safety health kit during work. Joshi agreed that working in refining units posed a risk, but he denies it affecting on survival age factor. "The risks are reduced compared to the days in the past decade, thanks to the advanced mechanism," he told `The Times of India.' Joshi said: "At present the scenario of the beedi industry is a sinking boat, as fewer people from the younger generation are coming forward to work at the tobacco refining units. These units, which saw over 10,000 labourers in 1994-95, now has only 1,500 employees. Enditem