First, people laugh on protective gear. Now, they follow!
Abdul Sattar is a young man residing in Sohnwa area of Jampur in district Rajanpur. He is around 28 years old and lives with his wife and two young children. He was an unskilled day laborer all his life. Although, life was difficult for him. Still, it wasn’t miserable.
When the floods hit his area in 2022, his entire village was under water. In fact, a number of surrounding villages were also drowned. One moment he was getting thoughts about saving himself; the other moment he was worried about protecting his family. With many difficulties, he evacuated his family to nearby embankment and the family had to survive there for a few days. He returned back to his village after the water receded. But, the family had nothing; not even a single day’s food for them.
At this moment, ACT began Employment Intensive Reconstruction in the Flood-Hit Areas of South Punjab with the support of International Labour Organization. The program focused on providing immediate relief and rehabilitation to the local communities through provision of employment, construction of basic facilities such as embankments, water ponds, raised platforms and small houses.
“We were having no work. At that time, they gave us some work and we were able to provide food for our children,” says Abdul Sattar.
Abdul Sattar was one of the many laborers engaged in the project activities to support their immediate livelihood needs. Moreover, they were also trained on safety aspects of work to avoid any disasters. The training also helped the unskilled labor understand the basics of construction work.
“The teams of ACT and ILO came here and gave us training. They shared on how we can build small structures; the quantity and placement of each item such as bricks, cement, filings, etc. This was so helpful,” believes Abdul Sattar.
Most importantly, these are village settings and safety is not considered important in usual work environment. “Our trainers also shared that it is important to wear safety hats and shoes as well as gloves before beginning any construction work,” says Abdul Sattar. He added that he had never heard of these concepts in his entire life.
He also shared that there is so much difference in work after using the protective gear. “I have to work under direct sunlight and I don’t feel that much heat on my head or under the feet now. I feel more protected after wearing the jacket,” he shares. “I think I will be able to work more professionally now,” claims Abdul Sattar.
Now, he plans to tell other laborers that they should also wear the protective gear before working.
He shares interesting facts on how backward his area is and people do not know about the safety and protection aspects when they are working. In fact, the local laborers used to laugh on Abdul Sattar on wearing the protective gear.
“The laborers used to laugh on my practices initially. Yet, they see that I put these safety shoes, hat and gloves whenever I work. And, not some of them are following this practices in our area,” shares a confident Abdul Sattar while sharing his achievement.
Although, he had to face sarcastic behaviors from his fellow laborers. Yet, his consistency in following safety during work is changing the trend in his area. Most importantly, there are no safety measures enforced from any government department in this area. Still, he hopes that there will be strict rules for wearing protective gear in construction related activities in his area.
“I hope these practices are enforced universally in our area,” says Abdul Sattar while sharing his desire for government regulations.