Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Nov 23, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Nov 23, 2005 |
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Work Life Info-Tech - Human Resources Industry & Economy - Health ILO moots work place norms for IT, BPO sectors Our Bureau
New Delhi , Nov. 22 UNDER fire from various sections on labour-related issues, the woes of the BPO industry seem far from over. In yet another salvo, a senior International Labour Organisation official said on Monday that the organisation is mulling a set of directives for call centres and IT service companies besides other industries, to improve the "hazardous" indoor environment conditions that prevail in many "fancy" buildings. "The sectors such as IT, call centres, electronics and construction where employment is perceived to be high, the indoor environmental conditions are indecent, hazardous and in 90 per cent of the cases create air problems, which call for fresh directives to be put in place so that the internal working atmosphere is made employee-friendly," said Ms Ingrid Christensen, Specialist, Occupational Health & Safety, ILO. She was speaking at an Assocham (Association of Chambers of Commerce of India) seminar on `Indoor Environmental Quality Certification.' Ms Christensen said the ILO was looking at the issues of internal environment in sectors, which provide for higher employment but fail to offer conditions that are conducive to the health of employees. She blamed the architectural design of IT and IT-enabled facilities in South-East Asia and India, saying that they did not provide for the adequate exit of pollutants. The ILO specialist lamented that while risks triggered by degradation of indoor environment were pronounced in the case of sectors such as mining, metals, foundries and agriculture, buildings, which may appear fancy from outside, could also fail to protect the health of employees engaged in hi-tech areas. Industry refutes claims: Dismissing ILO's views on the work environment in call centres and IT services firms, the Vice-President of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), Mr Sunil Mehta, said that Indian high-tech companies provide a world class infrastructure to their employees. "All members of Nasscom have a credible track record in HR and work place conditions. In fact, we are going a step ahead and want to raise the bar through a self-regulatory organisation. Any breach would be investigated, and if proved, the companies could face sanction ranging from payment of fine to expulsion from the self-regulatory organisation and Nasscom," he said. Epicenter Technologies' Chief Operating Officer, Mr Navanit, said that while the indoor environment in established BPO companies is comparable to facilities in developed markets, there may be concerns in smaller establishments with a 20-50 seat capacity. "In fact, in most cases, customers do due diligence to check that physical infrastructure, security environment and work conditions are not compromised," he said, citing an instance where a client wanted to know the measures that the company had taken to protect its employees from the bird flu outbreak. According to the largest third-party BPO firm WNS, given the employee-driven 24X7 nature of operations, the company had taken steps to ensure proper ventilation, lighting and hygiene within its facilities. "It is a given in the BPO industry today," said the spokesperson of WNS, which employs 8,500 people.
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