#Jugadi - Apni Jugad Wali Gadi
A Research Driven Intervention for Indian Construction Workers
Indian construction workers are forced to adopt dangerous working postures due to financial constraints, living with minimal resources, and relying on seniors for basic tools. How do we improve this, give them autonomy over their tools all while costing them as little as possible? Lets find out!
Group members - Swanand Wagh, Nikitha Chilukuri, Rohit Waghmare and Koshiki Agarwal.
A 4 week academic group project done in 2021 .
Indian Construction Workers - A Struggling Force
>80%
Over 80% of Indian construction workers lack access to proper safety equipment, exposing them to a higher risk of work-related accidents.
>70%
In India, 70% of construction workers suffer from musculoskeletal disorders due to poor postures and repetitive tasks, leading to chronic pain and discomfort.
>60%
More than 60% of construction workers are daily wage laborers, enduring unstable income and job insecurity, making it challenging to afford essential tools and protective gear.
source: Construction in India, a dangerous buisiness, britsafe.in
We wanted to closely understand the challenges they face and design a solution for their needs.
As new block was being added to the college library, there were about 35 residential contrsuction workers on the campus. This provided us with a great closely understand them, their work and their challenges. truly empatise with and design something for their needs. This was our research methodology
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Fly on the wall Observations
Shadowing
Self Immersion
Semi Strcutured interviews
Synthesis and insights
We started our journey with fly on the wall observations
We started our journey with simply observing the construction workers from a distance. This was followed by a shadowing exercise where we roleplayed and followed them for an day. This is what we observed...
We started our journey with simply observing the construction workers
We started our journey with simply observing the construction workers
Imagine carrying 50 kgs weight on your head, without any tools or protective gears all day, everyday !
To further empathize , we did a self immersion activity
Each one of our team members experienced what the workers experience everyday. Carrying the heavy weight even for a few meters proved to be a difficult task. This gave us an understanding of the key physical pain points.
Hover over image for key physical pain points
Neck completely weighed down
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Extreme pain on the scalp along with hair damage
Waist became stiff making it difficult to take a step
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Knees start to bend after a few steps causing overall imbalance
Q
Qualitative Interviews
A total of 13 qualitative interviews were conducted which gave us a deep understanding not only of the challenges they face at work, buts also how their way of living, their aspirations and desires.
If I tell you my dreams and Aspirations, you will laugh.
I declined so many good job offers as they were far away. How can I leave my family behind?
We had asked for a construction cart but the contractor denied it as its Rs 4500 per cart
Who cares about us? We will have to work till our limbs are functioning.
Finally, we synthesised all the collected data
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Mapping the data on a large board provided to be helpful in synthesising the observations from the field.
Affinity Mapping was done and relations and causality patterns were detected between various chunks of data.
Key Insights
01
Women are highly dependent on men at the construction site for tasks like communication with the contractor whereas men are highly dependent on women in household matters like finance.
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Dependance
02
Lack of autonomy at work and habit of living with the bare minimum has lead to compromise with their basic professional needs (like protective gear) leading to normalising pain.
03
The basic need of food and shelter has forced construction workers to sacrifice their aspirations and quality of life.
04
Although construction workers like interacting with students the absence of voluntary interactions from the them leads to an inferiority complex amongst themselves.
05
The principle of jugaad is deeply embedded in this working population where the manupulation of tools is leading to inefficient postures and lack of comfort .
Inspite of going through physical and emotional pain, the construction workers show up at work with a broad smile on their face. They say " Sab Theek Hai" or " everything is fine
Sab Kuch Theek hai
Kya Sab Theek Hai ?
Everything is fine
Is everything fine?
Based on this analysis, 3 key opportunity areas were mapped out.
Low cost Contruction Cart
A low cost construction cart based on the principle of JUGGAD.
Appreciation Installation
An appreciation wall in the campus to acknowledge the contribution of the construction workers
Student self
Immersion Activities
Self immersion activities with the students to increase empathy with the workers.
Can we design an extremely cheap construction cart which the workers can build themselves with the waste materials on the site?
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What if we utilise the punctured water drums at the site ?
We validated the concept using mockups and visual tools
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For better understanding, representative paper mockup was made and taken to tthe workers
The physical mockups were more interactive and received positive feedback from the workers.
This would be really helpful for us. I can easily build this. But I will add 2 wheels for extra stability.
I don't think we women can make it but our husbands easily make it for us. It will be great help!
Initially, sketches were shown to the workers which were not enough to communicate the conept effectively
Receiving a positive feedback from the users, it was time to prototype
Scarp Adhesive drums were cleaned and cut in half.
The sariya rods were later welded by the welder on the site
What better way to do load testing than taking a ride on the cart?
The Jugadi was made at a budget of Rs 1050 , 4 times cheaper than existing carts at Rs 4500.
Punctured Drums
For the main body, comes free with adhesives
Fabric Scraps
For the grip, No excess cost, easily replacable
25mm Sariya Rods
For the frame, Available in abundance, strong and durable
Scrap Tires
For movement,
Available in abundance at the site.
User Testing
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Initially it was a little difficult to control but with 2 rounds of use, I can control it well.
The height of the cart is too high which is making it difficult to carry.
We analysed the postures during the use of the cart by the OWAS posture analysis method.
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