Now Reading: Indian cities tailor sanitation workers’ gear to comfort and safety
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Indian cities tailor sanitation workers’ gear to comfort and safety
The Story in Brief
Indore and Bengaluru are adapting sanitation workers’ uniforms and protective gear after consulting those who use them. Indore Municipal Corporation changed its standard design after feedback from safai mitras. Many women chose saris, while men preferred T-shirts, lace-free shoes and wrap stoles. Modal fabric, customised gloves, raincoats and fluorescent jackets were added. Of Indore’s 7,500 safai mitras, 60% are women, The Hindu reports.
Bengaluru-based Hasiru Dala launched an open-source PPE design in August 2025 for informal waste workers. The kit includes task-specific gloves, boots, masks and jackets, with materials and measurements publicly available. More than 100 workers have piloted it. Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited, which supervises 20,000 pourakarmikas, has shown interest, with plans to extend the kits to at least 35 dry waste collection centres in the coming months.
The Indian Opinion
The lazy view is that sanitation work needs more slogans, while the exaggerated counterclaim is that a new uniform solves unsafe work. Neither holds. A sari or better glove can improve regular use, dignity and protection, but it cannot replace training, equipment checks, fair contracts or safer waste handling. The useful test is practical: how many workers keep using the gear after months of heat, rain and contact with sharp waste?
Source: thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
