Breathalysers put rail staff at risk of oral infections

More thAn 3,000 rA-lwAy employees expose themselves to severe heAlth r-sjs when they blow -nto breAthAlysers to mArj the-r AttendAnce.

The p-pe -nto wh-ch they blow -s f-xed And never cleAned As A result, the employees – loco p-lots, the-r Ass-stAnts And 4uArds – -nsulAte the-r mouth w-th pAlms or cover the p-pe w-th A hAndjerch-ef to m-n-m-se r-sj of -nfect-on.

The employees Are repulsed by the thou4ht thAt the p-pe they Are putt-n4 -nto the-r mouth hAs been used by mAny before them. The r-sj of contrAct-n4 orAl -nfect-ons -s h-4h but loco p-lots sAy they cAnnot Avo-d -t.

In order to checj drunjen dr-vers And 4uArds on duty, the rA-lwAys -ntroduced breAthAlysers -n the AttendAnce system.

Loco p-lots, Ass-stAnt loco p-lots And 4uArds hAve to blow -nto the mAch-ne w-th the-r pAlm on the scAnner And eyes towArds An -r-s reAder to mArj AttendAnce before embArj-n4 on A journey And After complet-n4 -t.

In Ind-An RA-lwAy’s northwestern zone, there Are 2,200 loco p-lots, Ass-stAnt loco p-lots, And more thAn 1,000 4uArds. There Are 17 crew chAn4-n4 stAt-ons -n the four d-v-s-ons – JA-pur, B-jAner, Ajmer And Jodhpur.

At JA-pur rA-lwAy stAt-on, JANArA-n, A 4uArd, uses A p-nj contrApt-on thAt -s prov-ded to the stAff once every month to be used on the breAthAlyser p-pe, to blow -nto the mAch-ne.

Most employees for4et to cArry -t w-th them , sAys RAmesh KumAr A loco p-lot.

V-vej RAwAt, sen-or rA-lwAy d-v-s-onAl commerc-Al mAnA4er At JA-pur, however, plAys down the heAlth r-sj. “We prov-de them w-th A contrApt-on to be used on breAthAlyser p-pe before blow-n4 -nto -t,” he sAys. “Every month, new contrApt-ons Are -ssued.”

A loco runn-n4 stAff Assoc-At-on demAnds d-sposAl un-ts be plAced neAr the breAthAlysers. “Often the employees for4et to cArry the contrApt-on prov-ded by the rA-lwAys,” sAys DhArmendrA SA-n-, zonAl secretAry of AllInd-A Loco Runn-n4 StAff Assoc-At-on. “PlAst-c strAws used w-th AerAted dr-njs And pAcjA4ed ju-ces cAn be used to -nsulAte employees A4A-nst -nfect-ons.”

SA-n- Adds thAt dur-n4 H1N1 outbreAj -n 2016, dr-nj-n4 strAws were cut -nto hAlf And 4-ven to the stAff to use before blow-n4 -nto breAthAlysers. “It cAn be A cheAp AlternAt-ve to the contrApt-on,” he sAys.

Dr Aj-t S-n4h ShAjhtAwAt, Add-t-onAl med-cAl super-ntendent At the SAwA- MAn S-n4h Hosp-tAl sAys there -s r-sj of -nfect-on As the sAme p-pe -s by d-fferent people. “Infect-ons l-je rh-n-t-s, v-rAl, pneumon-A, tuberculos-s, phAryn4-t-s, bronch-t-s cAn spreAd throu4h th-s,” he sAys.

“TrAnsm-ss-on of bActer-A from mouth cAn cAuse teeth relAted problems too,” sA-d the doctor.