National conclave on occupational health and safety of sanitation workers, Mumbai, 2024

Organised by CREA and Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) in Mumbai in 2024, this national conclave brought together diverse stakeholders to discuss the intersections of caste, gender, and labour in sanitation work. The event highlighted the health and safety challenges faced by sanitation workers, especially women, and called for preventive, rights-based approaches to ensure dignity, safety, and systemic policy reform.

What you’ll find in this report

  • Framing sanitation work within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and ILO conventions, positioning safe and healthy workplaces as a legal and moral obligation rather than a welfare issue
  • Recognition that worker safety must go beyond technical measures to include mental health, social stigma, cultural realities, and economic pressures
  • Advocacy for policy and institutional reforms that centre the occupational health, safety, and dignity of sanitation workers
  • Recommendations to extend safety protections to informal and migrant workers, with accountability for both employers and the state
  • Guidance to redesign sanitation systems and infrastructure to eliminate hazards at the source, involving workers in developing and testing safety solutions

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