RSP contract workers’ strength grows, so does their vulnerability to mishaps

As of now, they said, there are about 12,000 contract workers including around 10,500 deployed in works sites and the rest in project areas.
Rourkela Steel Plant.
Rourkela Steel Plant.(File Photo)
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ROURKELA: The frequency of mishaps in Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has brought the focus back on gradual reduction of skilled workers and the vacuum getting filled with contractual workers, mostly unskilled in nature.

This arrangement may be favourable for the financial health of the PSU but it has posed question marks on the safety and security at the work sites. In most cases, the contractual workers face the hazards.

The trade unions often blame the RSP management for engaging contract workers in perennial nature of jobs in stark violation of the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 and the NJCS (National Joint Committee on Steel) agreement.

Reliable source said strength of regular non-executive employees of the RSP has dropped to around 9,400 with natural separation but there has been no commensurate recruitment. As of now, they said, there are about 12,000 contract workers including around 10,500 deployed in works sites and the rest in project areas.

“During 1995, when the capacity of RSP was 2 million tonne per annum (MTPA), the strength of regular non-executive workers used to be around 29,000 which got downsized to nearly 18,000 by 2010,” sources said.

After the second modernisation and expansion project with adoption of latest steel making technologies, RSP’s production capacity more than doubled to 2.5 MTPA by 2014. However, in the next 15 years, the plant’s regular worker strength got trimmed by around 9,000 and the RSP with the mix of regular and contractual workers continues to run the show, sources pointed out.

The contractual workforce has been an integral part of RSP for several decades but continues to be victims of fatal mishaps largely due to lack of skill and safety awareness at par with regular workers.

According to Prashant Behera, general secretary of INTUC-affiliated Rourkela Shramik Sangh (RSS), the recognised trade union of RSP, the contract workers are engaged in perennial nature of jobs including production and maintenance without the required skills.

Against minimum prescribed pay of Rs 15,000 per month for unskilled workers, contractors allegedly pay them Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000, while the handful of highly-skilled contractual workers are paid Rs 14,000-Rs 15,000 against the minimum pay of Rs 20,000. These workers are often left at the mercy of their contractors, he claimed.

Without proper safety knowledge and unaware of the intricacies of the work sites, the contract workers continue to fall victims to mishaps. In January 2021, four contract workers died of asphyxiation after being exposed to entrapped CO gas in the pipeline at the coal chemical department leading to multiple inquiries and suspension of a few officers.

President of Rourkela Ispat Karkhana Karmachari Sangh (RIKKS) HS Bal said majority of the contract workers are unskilled and engaging them in production areas without proper safety guidance is an open invitation to mishap. “The RSP has always been stressing on zero-accident, but mishaps keep happening. Engagement of contract workers in permanent jobs remains a risky affair,” he added.

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