They have been asked to come up with uniform norms on physical distancing to be followed by workmenThe Madras High Court on Tuesday directed senior officials from the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) to pay another visit to Renault Nissan factory and other automobile manufacturing units at Oragadam and come up with uniform norms on physical distancing to be followed by their workmen.
Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy issued the interim direction on a writ petition filed by the workmen of Renault Nissan against the exemption from COVID-19 lockdown granted by the State government to automobile manufacturing units though they do not fall under the essential services category.
However, after the filing of the case, the workmen agreed to work provided the management implements all COVID-19 safety measures as agreed in the presence of a Joint Director of Industrial Safety and Health on June 1. It was the High Court which had directed the DISH to depute an official to mediate between the management and the workmen.
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The prime aspect of the agreement was to maintain 3:1 empty pitch ratio in the trim and chassis and body shop so that sufficient physical distance could be maintained. However, on Tuesday, senior counsel V. Prakash complained to the court that the management was not willing to implement the ratio in all assembly lines on the ground that it was not followed in other automobile manufacturing units.
After recording his submission, the judges directed the DISH officials to come up with uniform norms after an inspection of all factories and indicate special reasons thereof if a departure from the uniform norms was necessary.