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Wake-up Call: BPO Night-shift Employee Woes
Posted by Pradeep Sadanapalli | November 8, 2007 | 687 views
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Loading ...The rape and murder of a BPO employee in Pune raises questions about the security of graveyard-shift workers. Hyderabad Times evaluates the scenario in the city.
Picture this –– the darkest hours of the night, not a soul on the road, and the lady sitting alone in a car feels the driver is a bit of a suspicious character. No, it’s not the setting for a Bollywood thriller, but a potential worst case scenario for a night-shift call-center employee. The rape and murder of young Jyoti Chowdhury in Pune raises concerns about the security of BPO employees, and with its significant population of youngsters, burning the midnight oil, Hyderabad is sure to feel the reverberations. There are two ways to view this –– the armchair politician’s stance of it’s never happened in Hyderabad, and won’t! Or, to take all possible measures to ensure that it actually doesn’t!
Twenty-one-year old callcenter employee, Vijaya Durga, says, “Our company has the policy that girls should be dropped before guys. In case there isn’t a guy on the route, a security guard accompanies us.” But the fact is, security guards in all offices are usually male. “At one o’clock in the night, when you’re the only person in the vehicle, it can be scary. We’ve requested for female security guards, but nothing has been done,” Durga adds. Fatima Johra Mohammad, employee in a multinational company, also voices concern, “Maybe, they should stop putting ladies on night shifts. Some employees also take security lightly and go without security guards. That kind of risk also needs to be avoided.”
While commissioner of police, Balwinder Singh, assures that there hasn’t been a single instance of such a type of case in Hyderabad, in the last one year, he also proposes some mandatory precautions, “Tinted glass should not be allowed in the vehicles, and the management of companies should verify the credentials of the cab agencies and drivers.” A lot of smaller companies, operating with a limited number of vehicles, manage to handle security more efficiently. Tarun Singh, director of one such organization, says, “We don’t have hundreds of cabs, and therefore, manage to hand-pick drivers, conduct police verifications and background checks. We don’t outsource the cab service, and encourage employees to report suspicious behaviour at once.”
Additionally, technology is also available to tackle security. Amit Prasad, CEO of a firm that has developed GIS (Geographic Information System) -based security says, “On a digital map, the company can map employee residences and have access to car and driver identity. The system keeps track of the movement of vehicles.” Another organisation has developed a security system specifically for office-pickups. All employees need to do is, send messages from the cell phone when they get into the car, and again, when they get out. The driver also needs to report all the pickups and drops through sms or by calling a central number. The employee will also be informed about the number and model of the vehicle before it arrives. “A central server handles the information, and automatically sends alerts to the employer as well as a member of the employee’s family if something has not happened on schedule,” says V Sankaran, product specialist for the technology.
While technology or precautions may not always prevent crimes, they act as deterrents.
But the issue of security, for sure, needs to be addressed, for a significant amount of attrition in night-shift call-centers, is due to security concerns. For all the midnight oil burnt and the foreign moolah raked in, a safe ride home is the least one can ask for!
Safety Checklist
Verify driver’s identity ask for his license Don’t travel without a security guard or at least a colleague Ensure windows do not have tinted film otherwise roll them down Do not allow driver to take an unknown route, even if it’s shorter Keep emergency cell phone numbers on fast-dial office management and home etc. Make it a practice to call and notify parents or colleague once you’ve reached Do not hesitate to call the police (100) in case of any suspicion.
SOURCES:
Times Of India
Topics: Job Matters, Reports |
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