MUMBAI:
As the lockdown enforced to combat the COVID-19 pandemic eases, monsoon is set to enter the country. While it will bring general relief, the ensuing rains could well worsen the leakage issues faced by consumers in their houses and cause damage to structures.
This will impact the large numbers of people living in buildings and homes that need serious preventive waterproofing before the rains arrive this year. It is expected that 6-8 % of buildings and structures may need critical pre-monsoon repairs. The waterproofing contractors play a crucial role in ensuring the structural integrity of buildings and depend upon the pre-monsoon work for a big part of their earnings.
However, consumers have heightened health & safety concerns this year and may be wary of workers entering their homes. It is necessary to address these consumer’s concerns as it may lead to reduced repair & waterproofing work impacting incomes for waterproofing community.
Keeping this in mind, Dr. Fixit, the construction and waterproofing expert from the house of Pidilite Industries Ltd, has rolled out multiple initiatives which will benefit thousands of hardworking waterproofing contractors. This will not only help them to safeguard their livelihoods but will also benefit those consumers who urgently need waterproofing.
The program has been rolled out across 10 cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Indore, Ahmedabad, Surat, Kolkata and Nagpur, and addresses two objectives.
Contractor/User safety training: The first is to train and certify contractors on all safety aspects they and their workers need to adopt to prevent contracting and spreading of COVID-19 while conducting site operations. Dr Fixit has launched a full-fledged training & certification program for contractors on how they can ensure their own safety and that of their workers, and consumers at the site of their work. The program imparts training and information about all precautions as per the guidelines of MHA and WHO. At the end the course, participants take a detailed exam, with successful participants being duly certified.
The certification training, conducted over video conferencing, has been helping contractors allay fears of potential customers and prospect for fresh work with them to undertake waterproofing jobs. Moreover, Dr Fixit has complemented the entire extensive training with an audio visual guiding users on how to handle site work during the Corona pandemic.
For effective job completion: The second objective is provide technical training to contractors /users on advanced waterproofing techniques so that they can be equipped to complete all jobs faster, with fewer workers, and as per stringent quality standards. To this end, the Dr Fixit teams have been providing technical training on advanced waterproofing techniques, including the use of mechanized tools and devices that would help them speedily complete and deliver their jobs to the best quality. Dr Fixit has partnered with multiple companies that manufactures these mechanization equipments and has been training its users on these machines.
For the mental peace of their hardworking and safety-trained contractors and their teams, Dr Fixit has stepped up to also provide them with free COVID insurance cover.
Nilesh Mazumdar, Chief Executive Officer, Construction Chemicals (Retail), Pidilite Industries, said, “Waterproofing contractors are extremely important spoke of our ecosystem as they help protect the integrity of buildings and homes. We are hopeful that this initiative will equip them to assure customers of complete safety and to do their critical waterproofing jobs efficiently without losing out on the key business period.”
