Kriti Agrawal –
Madras High Court ordered the state government of Tamil Nadu to investigate a Renault-Nissan facility on July 3 to see if social distancing norms are being followed.
Last month, the Renault-Nissan workers’ union filed a case with the Madras High Court, claiming that social distance norms were being broken and that company-provided health benefits were outweighed by the risk to their life.
The Madras High Court’s request for an inspection comes after an assessment of Ford, Hyundai, and Renault-Nissan facilities by Tamil Nadu state officials last week, which found challenges in preserving social separation due to the nature of assembly-line labour.
Before the inspection, next month, a lawyer for Renault-Nissan India informed the Court that the business would follow recommendations issued by officials from the state’s Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH).
The rules apply to all automobile manufacturers, including Ford and Hyundai. The Court stated that only the Renault-Nissan factory will be inspected because no other automakers’ unions had voiced complaints.
Last week, a DISH investigation discovered that three out of every four workers at the factories had not been vaccinated, one out of every seven had contracted the virus, and 21 had died. More than 4% of all current cases in the two areas where the factories are located were caused by workers at the three plants.
Renault-Nissan announced that it will stop using an empty space on the conveyor belt, a step that would help the company enhance production after it was discovered that it was inefficient at preserving social distance.
Renault-Nissan stated in a Court file accessed by Reuters, “I sincerely submit that this would be equivalent to the business processes used in all other similar automobile manufacturers like Hyundai and Ford.”
On June 17, when DISH did the evaluation, production at the Renault-Nissan factory was approximately three-fifths of pre-lockdown levels.
Renault-Nissan employees have been advocating for an empty spot for every car on the conveyor belt, as well as a drop in conveyor belt speed, claiming that this will help maintain social distance.