Indian Railway is going all out to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and supplementing the health care initiative of Government of India by producing Masks and Sanitizer in-house. Railways are utilizing these face masks and sanitizers for the safety and protection of its officers and staff, security personnel, frontline staff and all who are working across the network.
A challenging task to manufacture face masks and sanitizers in-house, SWR took up the challenge to provide these essentials to their workforce. In order to ensure prevention and spread of Covid-19 virus, SWR has manufactured in-house 74,918 face masks and 9,937 liters of sanitizer up to 05.07.2020. Many of the employees and their families have also volunteered to manufacture the face masks from home and the same distributed to the essential staff.
With the active involvement of officers and staff, Face Masks and Sanitizers are being produced in-house at its Divisions and Workshops as below (upto 05.07.2020):
Sl. No. Division/Unit Masks (Nos) Sanitizer
1 Hubballi Workshop 20,035 2,960 lts.
2 Hubballi Division 13,437 3,990 lts.
3 Bengaluru Division 28,916 1,870 lts.
4 Mysuru Workshop 7,730 1,085 lts.
5 Mysuru Division 4,800 32 ltrs
Total 74,918 9,937 lts.
Face masks are being made at the stitching and furbishing section of the workshops. They are being stitched using cotton cloth with bands for adjustments. In addition to face Masks stitched in-house, staff who have retired from railways and also family members of employees have volunteered to take up the task of stitching face-masks and supplying them to the Zone. Shri Suresh Angadi, Hon’ble MoSR, welcomed this gesture of retired staff and family members of the Railway fraternity and thanked and appreciated their help to fight the Covid-19 during this crisis.
The sanitizers are being prepared at the Railway workshops which cater to locomotive maintenance requirements such as lubricant analysis and chemical analysis. These laboratories are preparing sanitizers with the composition prescribed by WHO of surgical spirit, aloevera gel, glycerol and scent.
In addition to supplying masks and sanitizers to all front line staff at stations and reservation officers, officers and staff of all administrative offices, are also being provided masks and sanitizers to protect them from the spread of Covid-19 virus. Contract labourers working at loading and unloading points are also being supplied with masks and sanitizers.
All administrative office staff and front line staff are also counseled to ensure social distancing and take precautions against Covid – 19 virus. Washing facilities with soap, water and are also being ensured at the workplaces. Since all operation and maintenance staff are working round the clock, various guidelines have been issued at all workplaces to ensure their safety and boost their morale.
With local innovations hands free washing facilities have been manufactured by the workshops. These simple tap and hand spray dispensers can be used by the employees without touching them with hands. This is a safe alternative as the user can sanitize their hands without coming into contact with the dispenser. Both the tap and hand sanitizer dispenser are mechanically linked to peddles fixed at the bottom portion of the stand. Both the tap and sanitizer can be independently operated by pressing pedals. Releasing the pedal will automatically shut off supply of water and sanitizer liquid. Staff of Head quarters, workshops, C&W depots, Crew lobbies etc. is using them as a safe alternative to sanitize their hands before and after duty.
