Andrea
Pradella
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The rag-pickers, also called waste-collectors, are people usually belonging to the poorest section of society, and 90% of them are women. They are often stuck on the old division in castes. They don’t have a job and they sell garbage (with a market value) per kg, to third parties, for a livelihood. The waste-collectors come out at night, or early in the morning, to do their work without any kind of protection and expose themselves to considerable health risks. After collecting the waste, they divide it in their houses, creating a toxic and unhealthy environment, even in the presence of elderly people and children. During the day they beg along the way or do other small jobs to round off their incomes. Usually they come from families with alcohol and drug problems.
The project aims to create a PPE kit that can be used by waste disposal workers. In addition to protecting the user, the product family has to guide them towards a more responsible and aware conduct at the workplace. To ensure that the kit can be received in a positive way by the workers, we will need to address some key points:
Affordability. Cheap products and of easy access even to the poorest segment of the population.
Adaptability. Create "customizable" products that adapt themselves to the user in terms of fit and versatility at work. Making the user safer without changing his/her habits.
Acceptance. The products must not harm or conflict with popular beliefs or customs, religions and superstitions.
Interchangeability. Each individual part of every product in the kit must be interchangeable or replaceable once broken or damaged. The parts must therefore be easy to separate and to get.
Replicability. The products must have a simple and effective aesthetics, they must be composed of readily available materials and must have a design that allows them to be replicated by hand. In this way even the poorest workers will be able to use "makeshift" components to recreate their PPE on the model of those in the kit.
The fundamental idea of the kit is to educate by protecting. Once the kit spread, it will seek to raise awareness among all workers by inviting them to a behavioral imitation that could, in the long run, bridge the gap in terms of workplace safety between India and the West.
Protection of the respiratory tract
Respiratory protection is inspired by the Indian women way of using the veil. There are two types of traditional clothes: the “kurta”, a long shirt similar to a tunic, dressed together with trousers and veil on the head; or the “saree”, a unique cloth of 5m long fabric that is wrapped to the body in a traditional way. The head is, in both cases, covered with a veil. In this PPE the veil, secured in its place by an elastic band on the forehead, covers hair and head from the sun, and protects nose and mouth from dust and dirt in the front part of the face. In addition, a rubber band holds a FFP2 category nasal filter with valve in place. The user will have the mouth free to speak, sing and pray but, at the same time, during work phases the respiratory tract is always protected by the nasal filter. The worker can move the front part of the mask to breath in a better way. The elastic, in addition to holding the veil firmly in place, retains sweat thus avoiding the user to dry it off using her dirty hands.
The worker can decide to get the full veil and wear it with a “kurta”; or only the elastic band together with the filter and use her saree to cover her head. The single filtering element is also given as a spare part.
Protection of the upper limbs
For the protection of arms and hands I used a continuous thread protective glove with a nitrile palm coating, combined with a pair of elastic fabric sleeves with "Ice Silk" technology: this material protects from sun and dirt but allows the transpiration of skin. The right glove doesn’t have the cover of the index finger phalanx. Placed in that location there is a specially shaped latex thimble. The thimble can be removed to expose the index finger in case of need. In some cases in fact, women workers need to touch the plastic to distinguish the different types of this particular material. The index is in the most sensitive finger of our hand and therefore allows a better recognition.
The sleeves in addition to protecting from the dirt during waste division phase, retain the bracelets that Indian women traditionally wear, even at the workplace, so they do not get dirty or constitutes an impediment to the worker. The sleeves are easily adjustable to the required length.
The three single products can be bought and worn at the same time or individually at the worker's discretion.
Protection of the lower limbs
The sandals, which can be combined with a pair of socks, follows the Indian fashion of wearing open shoes. Inspired by traditional shoes, it is easy to put on and off.
The sandals, produced only in a few sizes, are adaptable to worker’s foot thanks to the adjustable rear strap fixed to the sole through automatic clips. This strap can tilt and be worn on the instep or behind the heel for a better grip. In the front of the sole there’s a special concavity that facilitates riding the cargo-bike during the waste collection phase. It’s easy for the bicycle pedals to break and, leaving the rotation pin exposed. The worker will be able to place this pin in the concavity of the sole in order to keep riding in an optimal way during work. The shoe is printed in PU, it’s light and completely washable, with an anti-perforation insole and anti-crushing toe.
The sandals are supplied in the kit complete of rear strap and automatic adjustment clips.
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