Vinay* (name changed) has been working at a KPO called TutorVista

for the past four and a half years. He heads a young team handling the

customer service department at his firm. But he has`nt been coming

to office for the past week. He has been hospitalized following a bike

accident on the way to office at 2.30 AM. Reason – he slept off at the

wheel. The medical investigation that followed showed that Vinay was

suffering from a case of sleep deprivation. Small wonder, considering

that for the past four years, he has been working almost 12 hours

a day with precious little time for rest. Factor in the impossible

deadlines, grueling pressure from the management and the irregular

work timings, one should`nt be too surprised. Vinay admits that he had

reported this to his boss, who promptly suggested visiting a doctor.

On his own time of course, since the firm has no medical personnel

available on campus.

Relatively speaking, Gopi is just plain lucky. He was just fired for

nodding off for a few seconds at his desk during a quiet interval at

work. In a similar fashion, he had requested for a day`s leave so that

he could catch up on his sleep, but his manager had declined, citing

the reason as laziness.

Vinay and Gopi are not alone. The outsourcing industry has seen

its peak in India with several companies setting up shop with their

offshoring dictum in mind. Considering the wealth of skilled and

semi-skilled young workforce, relatively low pay packages and high

intelligence quotient, BPOs and KPOs seem to have sprung up from the

ground in many metro and urban cities in India. The industry indeed

has taken the employment market by storm in the last decade or so.

Small wonder then that the youth flock towards this trend today.

Among the lesser known patterns of a BPO employee is the amount

of neglect and abuse the human body endures. Man was meant

to be awake during the day and sleep at night. Conversely, the

outsourcing industry has created a daily regimen which encompasses

exactly the opposite. Almost 80% of the BPO workforce in India work

throughout the night and small hours of the day, resulting in a myriad

of physiological and psychological ailments, not least some of which

are exhaustion, stress-related problems, hypertension, eye disorders

and digestive problems. Studies are on to analyze these concerns and

their findings have turned up surprising and frankly, alarming results.

Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, an independent

survey body, had conducted an across-the-board survey to ascertain

the effects of the outsourcing industry and the results were as follows.

32 per cent of the workforce suffered from sleep disorders, 25 per cent

had developed digestive problems, and about 20 per cent suffered

from eyesight problems. 13% reported back pain from sitting for hours

at a stretch. Then there are sleep disorders as workers must always

be prepared to work on any shift. In our study, 13% reported insomnia

and 7% reported fatigue. Six months after giving up a call centre job,

workers still have difficulty sleeping at normal times. Women have

gynaecological problems because of irregular sleep cycles. Some 13%

reported visual problems such as eye fatigue; 3% reported headaches;

23% had indigestion and constipation. They suffer repetitive stress

injuries from long hours at the computer and “repetitive voice injury”

from speaking on the telephone for hours continuously.

The story does not end here. A job at a BPO entails constant pressure

and presence of mind on the work at hand. Add to this, the average

age of a BPO employee, around 24, and we notice a widespread usage

of intoxicants and pick-me-ups in prevalence. This includes usage of

tobacco related products like cigarettes and gutka, and even a dosage

of up to 8 cups of coffee a day! Calculate the amount of nicotine and

caffeine entering the body and one gets the picture. As is well known,

tobacco and caffeine are some of the most dangerous stuffs to be

ingested, leading to a gamut of illnesses, including respiratory and

alimentary problems, cardio-related complications and nervous issues.

Consider Aravind. Aravind was fresh out of junior college and started

to work for an amazing five figure salary. He was athletic and robust,

running for his college and being vice-captain of the football team. A

year down the lane, and he now finds difficulty in running two laps.

Reason – he loses breath easily - he`s started smoking. It came easily

to him, a way to keep his eyelids open through the night, working

gruelling hours. That’s not his only addiction. He has developed a

taste for strong coffee, and has several cups throughout his shift. A

combination of caffiene and tobacco has marred this young man`s

body to the point where he would need years to remedy the damage.

Vinay might have been lucky to end up with just a fractured leg,

but there are several other people who did not have that amount of

good fortune. A recent incidence in Delhi, at a premium outsourcing

company suggests the same. Rahul, working the midnight shift, was

coming back home on his moped, dozed off for just a few seconds and

accidentally rammed into a parked van, injuring his head and suffering

other internal injuries. Though out of danger in a few weeks after a

whole plethora of operations and treatment, doctors at the Apollo

Hospital now say that it was a very close call.

Studies are on to investigate the above said problems and hopefully

find solutions for them. Almost all BPOs and KPOs now have their own

transport facilities and encourage their employees to use them. Efforts

are also on to provide good and healthy food to the employees while

on the job. Noted outsourcing companies like Aditya Birla Minacs have

a full-time infirmary on campus and a visiting doctor coming three

times a week. An on-demand cab is also available 24/7 in case of any

emergency trips to a hospital.

Indian regulatory authorities haven't really got around to framing

regulations for the BPO industry.The only law we have in India that

is remotely linked to the BPO industry is the Indian IT Act of 2000.

While regulations are galore in reference to data theft, client records

privacy and anti-fraud norms, the state of the legal situation with

regard to BPO employees is virtually nil. The government, however,

begs to differ. “BPOs are covered under the existing labour laws. The

state governments are appropriate governments under various labour

laws and legally vested with powers to deal with violation of labour

laws in the BPO sector," K C Rao, Minister for Labour and Employment,

informed Lok Sabha in a written statement. Ostrich with his head in

the sand, perhaps?

Following is an excerpt from an interview with Dr,Vinod Tiwari, a

leading medical practitioner in Navi Mumbai.

“ There is no doubt that the workforce in the BPO sector are frequent

visitors to the doctor`s clinic. We have seen a lot of cases dealing with

exhaustion, sleeplessness, dependence on intoxicants, frequent bouts

of illness and other physiological disorders. It seems to indicate that

the call center industry needs to get a heads-up on the deteriorating

health conditions of its employees.”

A ray of light seems far off in this sector, but its definitely there.