On 20th June 2023, the Indian Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari signed the file that mandates air-conditioning in truck driver cabins.
Addressing the event called ‘Desh Chaalak – Recognising those who move India,’ the Minister said, ‘Our drivers operate vehicles in harsh temperatures of 43 to 47 degrees Centigrade and we must imagine the condition of drivers. I was keen to introduce the AC cabin after I became a minister. But some people opposed it saying the cost of trucks will go up. Today, I have signed the file that all truck cabins will be AC cabins.’
The event ‘Desh Chaalak – Recognising those who move India’ was organised by Mahindra Logistics.
Nitin Gadkari also spoke about shortage of drivers in India, resulting in truckers operating 14-16 hours a day. He said, ‘In other countries, there is a restriction on the number of hours a trucker can be on duty,’ he said.
In his address, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari reiterated about the reduction in logistic costs in India and the need to be brought down in order to improve export competitiveness – adding good quality roads and trucks is the key to it.
Business leaders and governments should understand that many of the actions they take are Occupational Health (OH) initiatives and taking inputs from OH specialists will help identify more areas requiring health, safety and productivity improvements.
It will interest the readers to know that the approach that the Union Minister Nitin Gadkari followed is what an Occupational Health (OH) physician does in the factory or office where he/she works. The OH physician finds out what are the hazards due to the work an employee does, if the workplace has any factors affecting health and if there are any specific working conditions that can impact health.
Occupational Health is a medical specialty that proactively controls recognized hazards and identifies unrecognized hazards present due to the nature of work, at workplace or due to working conditions that can affect health and find ways to reduce them to ALARP (as low as reasonably practicable).
Similar approach was undertaken by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he made provision for cooking gas to replace wood, especially in rural India or when MS Dhoni, the Indian cricketer took a nap on the floor of an airport to make up for a sleep deficit. These are examples of looking for hazards that can affect health, work and performance, and then taking steps to reduce the impact of hazards on health and improve performance.
For a business or a political leader, sometimes it is just about being alert to a hazardous situation, being compassionate to the sufferings of the people working and be willing to take action to reduce the impact of hazards to safeguard health, improve productivity and create a safety culture.
The approach undertaken by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to replace burning of wood and provide cooking gas, especially in rural India and MS Dhoni, the Indian cricketer taking a nap on the floor of an airport to make up for a sleep deficit are nothing but OH initiatives to improve health and performance.
The workplace of the driver is the truck and more specifically the cabin where he/she sits, sometimes for hours, to do the work of driving. Not only should the cabin be air-conditioned but the seat must be ergonomically designed for better sitting comfort. In addition, any control panel should be within easy reach so that adjustments can be easily made. Working conditions for a driver which needs to be addressed include work hours, rest breaks, road quality, buddy driver in case of long driving etc. If all these are taken care of, the drivers’ health is kept in good stead, productivity improves and so does road safety records.
For a business or a political leader, sometimes it is just about being alert to a hazardous situation, being compassionate to the sufferings of the people working and be willing to take action to reduce the impact of hazards to safeguard health, improve productivity and create a safety culture.
Business leaders and governments should understand that many of the actions they take are OH initiatives and taking inputs from OH specialists will help identify more areas where actions to alleviate work-related health issues are to be taken, in addition to productivity gains and safe working. After all, an estimated 20% of all patients seen by a GP are illnesses caused by work and the access to OH in most workplaces, including the unorganised sector, is low to nil in almost every country.
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Dr Ajay Sati is an Occupational Health physician who prefers to describe himself as an Occupationist, to denote, ‘an expert in diseases and other concerns of occupations.’ Dr Sati has managed health and wellness programs in industries he worked, like the atomic energy, and energy (oil & gas) in India and overseas. An experienced virtual consultation expert he was involved in many greenfield and brownfield projects providing inputs from health point of view.
