BANGALORE: While the policy makers are terming the growing young population of the country as the greatest asset, many young men and women who put in long hours as petrol pump assistants are being robbed of their health.
The constant exposure to petroleum vapour, which contains benzene that is used as an anti knocking agent in unleaded gasoline, poses great health risks to people working at the bunks. They are prone to skin diseases.
“This is my third year in the petrol bunk and I am loosing hair,” said Manjunath (25) who works at a petrol pump on Old Airport Road. “While eating we don’t get the taste of food and I have been suffering from skin irritation and rashes ever since I joined work.”
He said sometimes they work continuously for 48 hours and skin irritation gets worse during those days. “Blisters appear by the second day and it becomes almost impossible to hold a pipe again for the next few days,” he said.
Almost all the bunk staff have breathing problem. “I have throat pain, headache and hair fall problems,” said Karthik who works at a petrol bunk.
“I spend most of my earnings to get treatment for hair fall and headache.”
Most of the assistants working at petrol pumps and gas stations will have one or the other health problem.
“After working at a petrol pump, no one can be healthy. Customers don’t understand our problem and they don’t switch off their vehicles while at the filling station, which causes a lot of pollution,” said C Ramesh, a petrol pump assistant suffering from various health problem.
Researches have proved that constant exposure to petroleum vapour can cause various pulmonary and gynaecological disorders. This also leads to loss of appetite and heart problems.
Ramya N C, who is working with a petrol pump at Old Airport Road for the last three years, said there were 20 female assistants at the bunk and most of them complained of headache and stomach ache because of the smell of petrol and diesel.
“Nowadays, I am not getting my periods on time,” she said. “We get Rs 3,000 per month as salary and it is not enough for our daily expenses. How can we afford medical expenses.”
She said most of her colleagues, especially girls, faced a lot of health problems. Her friend, Kamala, left the job as she was suffering from respiratory problems, which was caused by working for more than one year at a pump.
She said the girl had developed an allergy to the smell of petrol and diesel and complained of health problems regularly.
The exposure to road pollution adds to their problems as most pumps are located in busy areas.
The assistants at the bunks get a starting salary of Rs1,500 to Rs 2,000 and get up to Rs 4,000 by the time they complete three years. Some of the employees are covered under ESI, but 70 per cent of them are finding it difficult to undergo proper treatment with the meagre salary since they are not covered under medical insurance.
Karnataka Petrol Bunk Association President Ravindranath said they can’t afford medical insurance as “owners get only a small commission in selling the fuel”.
“The government or the oil companies should take the initiative in providing safety measures to the workers,” he said. “All we can do is to cover them under ESI and EPF.”