DTE chronicles scorching lives of India’s factory workers in sweatshops turned sweatboxes

This series is supported by the Pulitzer Center. Read the first part here.

Imagine you are standing next to a boiler plant in a dark factory with insufficient ventilation. You are near the furnace, which is generating 350-450 degrees Celsius of heat. Your job is to feed wood into it for at least 10 hours each day.

To deal with the “hellfire” coming out of the furnace, you keep a cloth over your shoulder to wipe away the river of sweat running down your forehead.

The temperature near the furnace fluctuates between 44 and 46°C, with a wet bulb (WB) temperature (a measure of both heat and humidity) of 32°C. There is no option to cool down your body, not even the relief of an occasional cool breeze that may help during outside work.

Only after 30 minutes do you get to go outside, where the ambient temperature, which ranges between 40 and 42°C, is not much help either. But you must return inside quickly because another stack of wood awaits you to be fed into the furnace, among other tasks.

A worker feeding wood into a furnace in a boiler plant. Photo: Joel Michael / CSE

This is Bhim Singh’s typical day as a boiler operator in a textile factory in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, which has over 30,000 such boiler factories.

This furnace generates steam, required at every stage of processing in the textile unit. It operates round the clock, except when shut down for maintenance, because it takes approximately 12 hours to generate steam from a cold start.

Down To Earth (DTE) visited a few factories in Ahmedabad’s Narol industrial area and met Singh and his family in one of them on May 10, 2024. A yellow alert (between 41°C and 43°C) was issued in the city two days ago.

Ahmedabad is often hailed as the ‘Manchester of India’ because of its textile industry, which thrived due to the dry weather, but this has changed over time as humidity levels have increased. 

Earth is hotter now than it has ever been in the last 1,00,000 years, according to European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

India is experiencing a third year of severe heatwaves, exacerbated by climate change, with nighttime temperatures in many cities exceeding 30°C.

On May 29, national capital Delhi recorded its first heatwave death of a factory worker. Till now, there have been over 200 deaths due to heatwaves across India, as per Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data and media reports. 

The National Alliance of People’s Movements, a civil rights organisation, has demanded that this year’s extreme heat be declared a disaster under India’s Disaster Management Act of 2005.

External heat combined with internal heat generated in the body puts additional strain on the workers. So, someone who works continuously near a furnace and shovels wood inside it has a physical intensity of 400 watts, which is equivalent to someone working in agriculture or construction in the sun, says Luke Parsons, climate scientist, global science division, The Nature Conservancy. 

Physical intensity of 400 watts is categorised as ‘heavy work’ as per International Labour Organization’s 2019 report Working on a Warmer Planet. 

This heat gets even more extreme as many factories lack proper ventilation. For example, where Singh works, apart from the main entrance, there is no other ventilation. Most of the factories have fans, but workers describe them as “useless” as these blow hot air, due to a lack of ventilation.

“Aadat” (habit) and “majboori” (compulsion or helplessness) are common refrains heard when a conversation is steered towards rising temperatures.

Research shows that on average, acclimatisation may protect from an additional 2.5-3°C WB globe temperature (wbgt) of exposure.

WBGT considers humidity, wind speed and sun exposure in addition to temperature and is sometimes referred to as ‘feels like’ temperature because it indicates how hot one feels rather than how hot it is.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO 7243) recommends resting for part of an hour, above 26°C WBGT, if an acclimatised worker has ‘heavy’ work. Above 32-33°C WBGT, ‘heavy’ work should stop.

Click to read heat’s impact on different parts of the body

Interactive: Ritika Bohra, Sunny Gautam

Heat acclimatisation is important, but it has its limits and there is individual variability. The magnitude of acclimatisation depends on the intensity, duration and frequency of physical activity in the heat and environmental conditions, says Parsons. 

He was part of a team of researchers investigating the effects of global warming on the health of tropical workers. According to the findings, at 1°C of global warming, heavy work for acclimatised workers wearing light work clothes should be limited to a fraction of an hour for at least half of all hours in the year.

Although the study focused on outdoor workers, the findings can also apply to ‘heavy’ work done indoors.

Aside from the high ambient temperature, indoor workers in factories must contend with radiant heat from machines or equipment that emit their own heat. This exacerbates the already hot conditions. Rajan Rawal, a professor at CEPT University in Ahmedabad, calls it “waste heat.”

“Machines use fuel or electricity in an inefficient manner and emit or reject heat in the process and people around those machines are the recipient of this heat,” says Rawal, who is also a senior advisor at the Centre for Advanced Research in Building Science and Energy at CEPT Research and Development Foundation.

Dangerous heat indoors

Some 260 kilometres away from the boiler plant, a weaver in Surat’s Udhana works robotically on the ground floor of a power loom unit without even a ceiling fan. The room is cramped: 10 shuttle machines are producing polyester fabric in an 18×30 foot space with barely two feet between the looms. The worker must constantly shift between the 10 machines he manages.

Photo: Joel Michael / CSE

On the first floor, nine more machines are managed by another employee. In larger power looms, one worker manages 15-16 machines on average. 

The room is not only cramped, but also deafening: The machines run at a dangerously frenetic speed, around 115-125 decibels, around the clock. The only ventilation on the first floor is the main door, whereas the second and third floors have windows to compensate for the lack of fans or other sources of air circulation.

A power loom is a mechanised loom that produces different fabrics like synthetic, polyester, denim and cotton from yarns and serves as the starting point for many textile industry processes.

Workers spend more than 12 hours per day inside this heated environment, constantly moving between machines that may be on different floors of the building. Fans are not used because the air they produce interferes with the fabric work. Furthermore, there is no room to sit anywhere inside the unit. As a result, even brief periods of rest are not permitted and workers can only do so during breaks.

For 49-year-old Prakash Chandra Pradhan, indoor heat is as real as working outside in the sun. He has witnessed the dangers of extreme indoor heat firsthand. Around five years ago, a loom operator at Pradhan’s workplace died from heat exhaustion after working all night inside the unit.

“He felt dizzy at around 4 am in the morning, went outside and lied down near the gate and never got up again,” Pradhan recounted with a stoical gloom.

The worker was in his early forties and had been working in the power loom unit for 15 years.

According to Pradhan, heat-related deaths have increased over the last few years but not all are reported to the authorities. Another power loom worker who was operating 12 machines died in a similar manner in the second week of June 2024, but the cause is unknown at this time. 

Power looms have a higher revolutions per minute (RPM) at night, which increases the rate at which the machines work, making the atmosphere inside the factory extremely hot on days when nighttime temperatures are above normal.

“Both temperature and humidity were high that day and he had worked through the night continuously. I got a phone call after workers realised that he had fainted. We took him to the nearby hospital, but he had passed away by then. We later found out he died because of a heat stroke,” says Pradhan, who now works as a ‘master’ in the unit, overseeing the workers.

High humidity, even at lower temperatures, can be life threatening.

“If it is very humid, then it can be very uncomfortable and difficult to function even at lower temperatures. So, 30°C temperature with very high humidity will be far worse than 35°C temperature with low humidity,” says Anant Sudarshan, associate professor at department of economics, University of Warwick and senior fellow at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.

A 35°C WBGT is roughly equivalent to a 40°C main temperature and 75% humidity and it is potentially fatal. “At that temperature, a human can only survive for six hours,” Sudarshan says.

However, this does not imply that there is no effect below 35°C WBGT.

According to the Factories Act of 1948, any factory must have a maximum WB temperature of 30°C and adequate air movement of at least 30 metres per minute.

The act specifies different conditions for dry and WB temperatures; for example, if the dry bulb temperature ranges between 40 and 44°C, the WB temperature should not exceed 28°C.

However, based on temperature readings (taken with a particle counter instrument that measures air and wb temperature, as well as relative humidity) and interviews with factory owners and civil society members, DTE discovered that a large number of factories violate this rule and there is little emphasis on its implementation by the labour department or other government authorities.

Can Heat Action Plans help?

Ahmedabad is also home to South Asia’s first heat action plan (HAP), which was developed and implemented in 2013. HAPs are India’s primary policy response to life-threatening heatwaves and a means of protecting vulnerable populations. They recommend a variety of preparatory activities, disaster responses and post-heatwave response measures across government departments to reduce the impact of heatwaves.

An HAP proposes a series of measures that must be implemented based on the temperatures in a specific city. For example, in Ahmedabad’s HAP, in a red alert situation (above 45°C), labourers’ working hours should be changed. However, not all factories follow these guidelines.

Think tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR) analysed 37 HAPs: Nine at city level, 13 at district and 15 at state across across 18 states. CPR discovered that nearly all HAPs were ineffective at identifying and targeting vulnerable groups and that the majority were not designed for local context and had an oversimplified view of the hazard.

The challenge of implementing these plans is that they are mostly advisory and not mandatory, according to Abhiyant Tiwari, lead, health and climate resilience at Natural Resources Defense Council India, who has been involved with the development of the HAPs. 

“Having a legal or regulatory back up is very important in terms of occupational heat exposure or heat hazard,” he pointed out.

Economic growth and heat

Many of these industries make significant contributions to India’s economy.

For instance, the power loom sector, which accounts for approximately 60 per cent of total fabric production in the country. Surat, with its over 100,000 power loom units, contributes around 30 per cent of production and employs over 800,000 workers. They produce over 20 million metres of fabric every day, which is then used to make sarees, curtains, tablecloths and decorative fabrics and is also exported as a raw material to other countries.

Ironically, these colourful fabrics, manufactured by workers amidst boiler plant chimneys and high decibel sounds of power looms, end up in air-conditioned showrooms and malls, providing shoppers with a “cool” environment.

The processed goods not only meet the country’s needs, but they are also exported. However, those who make them work in obscure, scorching and dangerous conditions.

Take, for example, Ishitiqar Hussain and Nishad Hussain, karigars (artisans) in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad, which is well-known for its brass and metal handicrafts that are exported worldwide.

When DTE met the two, they were busy smelting and casting incense holders in a small 9×7 foot space that had been their workplace for the previous 15 years. Within that small space, they carry out their entire process — from patternmaking and designing moulds, to melting the metal at high temperatures with coal and manually transferring the molten metal into the mould.

Nishad Hussain and Ishitiqar Hussain smelting and casting incense holders in a 9×7 foot space. Photos: Joel Michael / CSE

Aside from incense holders, the artisans make a variety of brass pooja items such as oil lamps, kalash (pots), bells and urns, which are exported to cities throughout India, including Haridwar, Bangalore and Hyderabad, as well as neighbouring countries such as Nepal. The duo makes 500 such pieces per day on average and gets Rs 500 each.

Even in April, when the average temperature in the city was between 35 and 38°C, DTE recorded the temperature inside this room near the furnace as 43.4°C with a WB of 27.9 °C.

Just outside the room, in the open area, the temperature was 37°C and the WB was 23.5°C.

Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, is also known as peetal nagri (brass city) and it is one of the country’s largest export centres for handicrafts and decorative items. Hundreds of artisans in the city who make these dazzling handicrafts and are regarded as the industry’s backbone work from scorching cubby holes for pitiful wages.

Have they felt the increasing intensity of heat waves? “Garmi toh bahut lagti hai par bardaasht karni padti hai; (I feel the heat but have to tolerate it),” says 45-year-old Ishtiqar. “Since the last few years, I have been thinking that as I get older, my body will not be able to handle working in this heat,” 42-year-old Nishad adds to the conversation. 

A study conducted by the non-profit Selco in the summer of 2023 discovered that health effects from prolonged exposure to heat had either forced people to stop working after the age of 40-45 or driven them to less laborious tasks within their trade.

Ishtiqar says that on days when they are unable to work due to the heat, they cease operations and forego their wages. However, for the time being, this has only occurred for one or two days at a stretch.

A study on the impact of temperature on labour and productivity in a variety of manufacturing environments in India discovered a link between prolonged high ambient temperatures and lower worker productivity and attendance.

Sudarshan and three other researchers from Delhi University, the Indian Statistical Institute and the University of North Carolina conducted the research on three different industries: Cloth weaving, garment manufacturing and rail production and found that output declined by 4 to 9 per cent per degree on days when WBGT exceeded 27°C.

Indeed, above 27°C, a one-degree increase in WBGT was associated with productivity declines ranging from 3.7 per cent for garment lines in the milder climates of south and central India to approximately 8 per cent for garment lines and weaving units without climate control. Furthermore, each additional day of high temperatures was associated with a 1-2 per cent increase in absenteeism among contract workers.

Social vulnerable and marginalised groups

Dalits account for 30.57 percent of seasonal migrants, Adivasis for 12.63 percent and Other Backward Classes for 36.94 percent, according to the most recent 2011 Census data. Their social marginalisation is accompanied by other issues such as acute malnutrition, low wages, long working hours and hazardous working and living conditions. Heat exposure exacerbates existing social inequalities.

The majority of workers in Surat’s power loom units come from Odisha’s Ganjam district, where there are few opportunities for stable employment. 

The majority of families at the boiler plants come from scheduled or denotified tribes. Their primary concerns are managing two meals per day. They do not have the luxury of worrying about the health consequences of the oppressive heat.

“Kitna bhi paseena choote, ruk nahi sakte, sir dekhte rehte hain (How much ever I am sweating, I can’t stop, the manager keeps an eye),” says Singh’s 25-year-old wife Kamli.

Kamli (with a child on her lap). Photo: Joel Michael / CSE

The family belongs to the Dewar scheduled caste in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua district.

“The shift is 12 hours long and we have to work for at least 2.5-3 hours straight without taking a break,” she says, showing her infected, pus-filled toenails. Her job entails cutting the wood into smaller pieces, transporting it to the boiler and discarding the ash.

Often, while picking up the stacks of wood, logs fall on her, injuring her legs and feet.

However, work must continue because she must complete 12 hours of her shift in order to earn Rs 350 ($4.19) per day. When Kamli first started working at this factory at the age of 15, she earned Rs 250 ($2.99) a day.

DTE met her during her lunch break from 1-3 pm and she appeared visibly weak, exhausted and ill. “My head is hurting but who do I tell this to? I will take a medicine, resume work, but the headache will return again,” she says.

Other workers DTE spoke with at various work sites also mentioned keeping medicines on hand because they frequently experience body aches and fevers.

Meanwhile, Singh is extremely busy and only has 15-20 minutes to finish his lunch because a new order of wood is being delivered to the factory premises and he, along with other workers, must unload it from the transporting vehicle. The 12-hour shift, for which he receives Rs 500 ($5.98) per day, is frequently exceeded due to order deadlines.

Bhim Singh. Photo: Joel Michael / CSE

While 12-hour shifts are the norm in most factories, the Factories Act limits a day’s work to 10.5 hours, including rest intervals. Despite having worked here for over ten years, there is no concept of leave or holidays and their living conditions have not improved. 

Vicious cycle of heat

One of the most concerning aspects is that the workers are trapped in a cycle of heat that lasts far beyond their working hours due to their appalling living conditions, which are frequently located within the factory grounds and are temporary in nature.

These settlements are particularly convenient for boiler workers because the closer they are to the boiler, the more diligent they are in feeding it with fuel. The rooms resemble ovens because they are made of asbestos or tin sheets that trap heat. Many times, the nighttime temperatures inside are higher than the outside temperature.

In some locations, DTE found that workers were sitting inside their rooms with fans switched off as they blow hot air.

“It’s really important for people who are exposed to heat all day to be able to cool down, give their body a break and have a chance to recover so if they are going somewhere where they don’t have access to, say a fan, then that can have compounding health consequences over time,” says Parsons.  

But why, after ten years of working in the same place, as in a permanent job, do their lives appear to be stuck in a never-ending cycle of hardship?

“The workers say that the owners don’t have any incentive to provide them with better housing facilities, the owners say that whenever they have provided any kind of provision, like coolers for their rooms, the workers have not taken proper care of the facilities and they have suffered losses,” says Geeta Parmar, senior associate in public service organisation Aajeevika Bureau. 

The workers’ rooms resemble ovens because they are made of asbestos or tin sheets that trap heat. Photo: Joel Michael / CSE

Easy solutions?

Aajeevika, together with the Sah Karyam Foundation, an independent social enterprise, is working to improve these accommodations. In a pilot project, improvements were made to the walls, roofs and ventilation of five rooms where boiler plant workers live. 

The walls, which were previously made of recycled tin/cement sheets or stacked bricks, have been replaced with a three-layer arrangement that provides heat insulation: An outer layer of aluminium sheet, followed by thermocol sheet and inner walls made of recycled tetra pack panels.  

According to DTE’s temperature measurements, the difference between a room with these improvements and an outside area not exposed to direct sunlight was significant (4.4°C).

Next, the organisations plan to target more such factories and construction sites, as well as investigate alternative insulated materials to thermocol. 

However, convincing factory owners about the benefits of these improvements in terms of worker health and productivity is a difficult task. “Initially, we get a hostile response. The convincing process took about six months in just the first factory,” she explained. 

Renovated rooms for boiler plant workers. Photo: Joel Michael / CSE

Not only is the living space being improved, but a few industries are also actively considering improving the factory design to make it more heat resistant. 

For example, Chander Shekhar Goel, owner of Haryana’s Goel Engineers (India), which manufactures metal sheets, installed insulation sheets in an industrial shed just beneath the roof sheets. According to Goel, Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee of the Federation of Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME), these sheets can reduce temperatures by up to 4-5°C.

“Apart from insulation sheets, the walls in the building are made of AAC blocks (equivalent to 18 bricks made of cement), which absorb both heat and sound. These are one-time investments. But in factories, the investments are already so high that people don’t like to invest in heat resistant solutions. They think that it’s just a matter of one and a half months (the peak summer period). But with increasing number of warmer days, factories need to seriously think about this. It is also the responsibility of architects to factor in these materials when they are designing new factories,” says Goel.

Additionally, factories need to increase the efficiency of equipment like boilers to reduce their heat generation and rejection, Rawal adds.

“Some machines produce heat because they do not use electricity or fuel in an efficient manner. The amount of electricity or fuel you provide generates waste heat, so it is inefficient. As a result, companies must focus on the generation phase in order to improve the machines. The same is true for boilers; if they are produced efficiently, the people who work around them will be exposed to less heat,” he says.

The next step should be about making people comfortable in their work environments. Rawal suggests two solutions that can be implemented on a mass scale by different factory units.

• Spot conditioning
• Personal comfort systems

“When people need to work on a floor in industrial units, instead of cooling the volume (factory floor), just cool what is required around your body,” he says. 

For example, in a boiler plant where workers have limited movement space, a cooling or comfort system circulating air at 27°C or 25°C will be sufficient to keep them comfortable.

“We are becoming obsessed with the word cooling. We need comfort. In want of cooling, we are wasting a lot of energy,” says Rawal. 

Factories can invest in personal comfort devices, like fans that could be worn around the neck. 

“These wearables give a sense of cooling the body. This is called thermal alliesthesia: A thermic perception (heat and cold), which contributes fundamentally to homeostatic thermoregulation. It is an aspect of thermal comfort, basically playing with your mind,” says Rawal, adding that these can help in preventing heat strokes.

As of June 19, 2024, several Indian cities are on red alert, with ‘severe heatwave’ warnings. People like Ishitiqar, Kamli and Singh, whose life opportunities have been limited by the walls of their workplaces, are the human faces of this climate crisis, pushed to their limits, with no immediate relief in sight.

With inputs from Joel Michael