12-hour shift trial successful in Tata Steel, may be rolled out in other departments soon

Jamshedpur: Tata Steel’s trial of 12-hour work shift has been successful and this is going to be implemented in other departments too.

The company has stated in a statement: “We are happy to inform that the trial has been successful and the footfall of employees in these areas have been reduced to approximately 25% per day. We have collated feedback of the employees from these areas, which is being reviewed. The success of the trial gives us a confidence to roll out the 12-hour work shift in other departments in Jamshedpur works as per the business requirement and assessing the COVID-19 situation.

The company said in the statement: “The health and safety of its workforce has always been paramount to Tata Steel. We have been at the forefront of developing industry-specific protocols that can be a model—from testing parameters to contact tracing, monitoring social distancing norms, classifying employee risk levels, and providing appropriate healthcare responses.”

In view of the unprecedented situations due to COVID-19 outbreak, Tata Steel had taken up with the Jharkhand Government to allow 12-hour shift operation. The primary objective of the request was to reduce the footfall of employees on the shopfloor and also reduce the number of days of exposure of an employee to an outside of home environment.

The Jharkhand Government exempted Tata Steel, Jamshedpur from various provisions relating to weekly hours, daily hours, intervals for rest etc. of adult workers under Factories Act 1948 and allowed the workforce at Tata Steel Jamshedpur to work upto twelve hours in a day.

The 12-hour work shift was thereby, introduced as a trial in New Bar Mill, Sinter Plant and IBMD.

The company statement says: “Tata Steel stays committed to the health and safety of its employees and stakeholders. We are constantly monitoring the COVID-19 situation and continuously updating all safety measures to reduce the COVID-19 risk to our employees and all stakeholders across all our areas of operations.”