Sick of living in constant fear that bits of roof are going to fall on their heads, office workers in a dilapidated Government building in Bihar, India, were forced to wear metal motorcycle helmets at all times.

 

受够了整日生活在天花板碎片砸到脑袋上的恐惧中，印度比哈尔一座摇摇欲坠的政府办公楼里的员工不得不一直戴着摩托车头盔工作。
 

 

A video showing four office workers trying to do their job while wearing motorcycle helmets went viral on Indian social media last month, once again bringing into discussion the poor working conditions in the Asian country.

 

The footage was quickly picked up by news outlets¹ and investigations² revealed that the Government building in Areraj, Champaran district, had been deemed dangerous by work safety inspectors³ two years ago, but no action was taken to move the workers to a safer location.

 

"The building construction department had two years back declared the building is hazardous⁴ and unfit for use. The authorities have, however, found no alternate accommodation to shift the office," employee Amit Kumar Pandey told reporters. "The situation has aggravated⁵ due to rains as the entire building leaks, compromising the safety of office equipment and records. The matter has been communicated to senior officers many times in writing, but to no avail."

 

But water trickling⁶ in through the roof is not what prompted employees to start wearing motorcycle helmets at the Government office. Parts of the roof have been falling on their heads for some time, and it's now in such a bad state that it could come down any day.

 

"This is quite an old building. Walls and the roof of the building are in a very bad shape. Water starts trickling the moment it rains. The roof can cave in any day," said Parvez Ahmad, who works in the building. "Since we can't be absent from our duties, we all decided⁷ to wear helmets. Many employees have sustained injuries due to falling of plaster from the ceiling."

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