‘Workers Were Risking Their Lives’: The Nagpur Architect Fighting for Their Safety, Toilets & Rights

Samruddhi S Chaphale is an architect, educator and advocate for socially responsive design. She founded the Nagpur-based Levellers Foundation after recognising that construction workers needed more than protective equipment. Project Salamati is the foundation’s effort to improve workers’ safety, health and wellbeing.

The project grew from Chaphale’s conversations and experiences on construction sites. She saw workers roofing without safety kits and initially focused on explaining the risks. Later, she understood that helmets and gloves could not solve back pain, anxiety about wages, poor housing or the absence of toilets. Salamati therefore brings together architects, doctors, activists and community organisations.

The project treats workers as people with connected needs, not only as bodies at risk of injury. Chaphale’s yoga session in a Nagpur park showed her the value of asking how workers feel. Its work includes attention to physical pain, depression, mental distress, working conditions and concerns affecting women workers.

Construction workers in Nagpur faced risks that extended beyond immediate physical injury. Their work involved lifting, carrying, bending and climbing for hours, which could cause back pain, damaged joints and fatigue. They also worried about wages, families, housing and the dangers of their jobs. Some sites lacked basic facilities such as proper toilets.

Chaphale saw workers doing roofing work without safety kits. Yet conversations revealed deeper problems. A helmet could protect someone’s head, but it could not ease chronic pain or provide a toilet. A safety briefing could explain danger, but it could not resolve anxiety about earning enough money or living in difficult conditions. Yoga also showed how rarely workers had space to relax.

The article describes mental distress, sleep problems, unhappiness and uncertainty among studied workers. Migration, financial pressure and the need to keep earning made these concerns harder. Project Salamati responds by linking safety with healthcare, living conditions, recreation and emotional support.

The article presents evidence that physical and psychological problems are widespread among the specific groups studied. A 2016 occupational-health study identified musculoskeletal disorders as a major concern and the largest cause of work-related illness. These conditions can affect workers who repeatedly lift, bend, carry and climb.

A 2016 study of 404 male construction workers in Kolar found probable psychological distress in 27.5% and poor quality of life in 14.6%. The lowest quality-of-life scores related to surroundings, including living conditions, healthcare and recreation. In a separate 2023 study, 64% of 75 migrant construction workers were potentially in need of psychosocial care.

The figures should not be treated as estimates for every construction worker in India. They describe small, specific groups. Still, the findings reveal pressures often missed by safety discussions. The 2023 group also reported unhappiness, nervousness, sleep disturbances, difficulty thinking, tiredness and headaches, while 39% had thought about ending their lives.

For workers who earn through physical labour, an injury or illness can directly threaten a day’s wages. Construction work depends on lifting, carrying, bending and climbing, so pain may make work harder or lead to missed work. The result can be less money available at home, especially when a worker supports a family.

The article gives the example of a construction worker whose wife had died. He still had to earn, feed his family and manage his loss while the site and the need for income continued. This shows how personal crises can be pushed aside by economic necessity. Physical pain creates a similar pressure because stopping work may reduce earnings.

Mental-health crises add another layer of risk and strain. The studies cited found psychological distress, poor quality of life and suicidal thoughts among some workers. The article does not quantify the financial effects of such crises, but it shows why wellbeing matters: workers cannot easily separate health, work, income and family responsibilities.

Workers did not necessarily reject safety because they failed to understand danger. Chaphale found that many had become accustomed to risk and had almost accepted it as the way their lives would be. This makes dangerous conditions feel normal rather than exceptional, even when workers know something could go wrong.

Their economic situation also shaped their behaviour. When Chaphale urged workers to wear safety gear, some replied, “Give us the kit and we will leave.” They were focused on work, daily wages and getting through the day. A safety discussion could seem less urgent than earning money immediately, especially when families depended on that income.

This response shows why handing out equipment is not enough. Workers may need trust, time, practical facilities and support that address their wider lives. Salamati developed from listening to those connected concerns. The article suggests that asking about wellbeing can help shift safety from a one-time kit into an ongoing relationship with workers.

Women construction workers need protections that address how construction sites affect their bodies, privacy and ability to work safely. Chaphale specifically encountered concerns about washrooms, working hours, menstrual health and clothing. These are basic working conditions, not optional extras, because their absence can make a demanding job more difficult and unsafe.

The article says Chaphale saw women working on sites without proper washrooms before the text ends. Project Salamati’s wider approach helps explain the need: a helmet protects the head, but it cannot provide essential facilities or respond to workers’ everyday health concerns. Safe toilets support privacy and hygiene. Suitable clothing and reasonable hours can make work more practical, while menstrual-health support addresses a need the article identifies directly.

The article does not provide figures for women workers or describe specific interventions. It does show that safety must include gender-specific needs. Listening to women workers is therefore necessary for designing protections that fit the realities of construction work.

Occupational safety prevents immediate harm, but public health also includes pain, mental distress, housing, sanitation and access to care. Labour rights connect these issues to workers’ ability to earn safely and support their families. For migrant and informal workers, these protections matter because the article describes migration, uncertainty, difficult living conditions and constant pressure to keep earning.

Project Salamati illustrates the connection through a multidisciplinary approach. Chaphale works with architects, doctors, activists and community organisations. Their work grew after she saw workers roofing without safety kits and later understood that helmets could not provide toilets, relieve back pain or resolve anxiety about wages and housing. A worker’s health therefore depends on both the site and the wider conditions around it.

The article presents small studies, not a national estimate. Still, their findings support a broader approach to protection. Safety programmes should ask about physical and mental health, living conditions and essential facilities, while listening to workers. Public-health and labour responses become stronger when these concerns are addressed together.