Date: 3/18/18

To: Indian Distribution Agency

From: Indian Ministry of Labor and Employment

Subject: Suppression of Snake Fatalities in the Indian Workforce

Reference: Inquiry into the suppression of snake-related injuries and fatalities amongst Indian
workers.

Action Required: Implement new government protocols by 8/01/22

Distribution List: Indian Media Distribution Coordinator

Since the beginning of time snakes have always antagonized human civilization. In
biblical context, the serpent was a trickster, a being that existed solely to deceive and steal.
While snakes are not intelligent enough to trick and steal from us, they have always played the
enemy, causing pain and frustration wherever they appear. Snakes are dangerous and deadly, and
while civilization grew, and advanced, modern man has forgotten the looming threat that snakes
still pose toward the wellbeing of those who live in their vicinity.

India is one of the most populated countries on the planet, falling just a hundred thousand
short of the giant which is China. Though it houses almost four times the amount of people that
live in the united states, it has struggled to provide adequate social and public works for the
majority of its citizens. Countless underdeveloped and rural areas go without proper resources
for the modern era, and as a result suffer high fatality rates from issues that in other countries
may merely result in a trip to the doctor.

Summary
Snake bites have become a rapidly growing issue in India, with more than half of the
world’s snake fatalities being traced to India. Most of the deaths are due to untreated venom
poisoning, with the bulk of deaths being workers who were bitten on the job and were not able to
get proper treatment. There are several reasons why Indian resistance to snake incidents is so
poor. Hospitals and medical dispensaries are few and far between, and transportation to them is
expensive and time-consuming. Not only are there few places to get anti-venom, but the venom
itself is often diluted and weakened by the very companies that distribute it.

For India to lower the number of fatalities caused by snake bites, there need to be new
laws and regulations put in place to protect workers from poor working conditions. New medical
stations can be put in place to make medicine more available in locations all around India.
Companies can be penalized for diluting anti-venom and other medicines for profit.
Organizations that wish to build in an area without a medical station can even be prevented from
contracting new projects in designated areas to keep workers from working where they will not
be able to get paid in the case of an incident. These solutions will not only reduce fatalities from
snake bites but also all other on the job injuries that can be treated with general medicine.
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The Indian Snake Dilemma

Breeds
There are over 200 species of snakes in India, and of those 60 of them have a bite that can
kill. While this number on its own causes enough to put emphasis on further precautions, there
are four snakes that make up for over half of all snake deaths in India. The Indian Cobra or “Naja
naja” is a cobra that resides in the southernmost parts of the Indian subcontinent. While the snake
is deeply intertwined in Indian culture, it’s bite can kill, with an up to 40% mortality rate for
those bitten by it. The Bungarus Caeruleus or Krait snake is the last of the four and known for its
band like white stripes, while this snake is easily recognizable, workers still fall victim to its
venomous fangs, making it the second most deadly snake in India. The Russell Viper and the
Saw-Scaled Viper are two other deadly snakes, which are less deadly than the cobra and krait,
but still, cause many deaths and are often mistaken for less harmful snakes.

Snakes and Labor

Snake Bites have always been a serious risk when working in India but now more than
ever they have become an urgent issue. While the vast majority of snakes will not attempt to eat
a human for food, a snake will bite a human if they feel threatened, or when their territory is
being encroached on. Over the past decade demand for labor has steadily increased in India, with
the construction of new infrastructure and public facilities being a new initiative for the Indian
government, not including the private sector’s ever-expanding housing market. As the rate of
construction increases, more workers will be placed in underdeveloped locations that snakes call
home. Within the areas, they risk being bit by one of many deadly venomous snakes that call
India home.

Poor Conditions and Policies

Working in India
While snakes are an issue everywhere they can be found, for whoever may live near their
natural habitats, middle and lower-class Indians often must go straight to them to earn a living.
Construction workers in India are often performing tasks in temperate conditions with exposed
feet, legs, and arms. India is known for its tropical climates and tall grasses, which snakes prefer
for hunting and resting. Workers in the heat may sit down to take breaks, use the bathroom or eat
lunch, and find themselves at immediate risk of running into a snake that may have been nestled
in a patch of thick brush or a low branch.

Improper Treatment
The working conditions in India seem like an ophidiophobe’s (a person with the phobia
of snakes) nightmare, but they are not unmanageable, medical treatment in the form of anti-
venom has been studied for decades and can usually save someone who has been bitten by a
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poisonous snake from their untimely demise. However, India has not fully prepared for these
incidents and is lacking in the resources needed to treat those who are bitten daily. Often medical
sites are far from the environments in which workers perform labor and transit to a medical
facility can prove very time to consume, especially when most types of deadly snake bites can
cause mortality in under 48 hours.

Workers within the range of treatment centers then have another problem. Much of the
medicine in India is altered to increase the profit margins of the companies that produce them.
Anti-venom is often weakened through the process of delusion so that the distribution companies
can produce much more doses with less of the original product. This causes for weaker and in
some cases ineffective anti-venom, causing the task of acquiring enough anti-venom to properly
treat a wound to be very difficult, especially for a worker who does not have enough income to
buy an extensive amount of antivenom.

Threat Reduction and Fatality Suppression

The state of medical treatment for snake bites in India is troubling, however, it is
solvable. There are steps that can be made through the implementation of new policies by the
Indian government that can help to reduce the nearly 50,000 snake bite deaths that occur each
year in India.

 New medical buildings known as health stations will be built in the various Indian
districts. The amount of health station will be consistent with the population of each
district and will be roughly 10 or 20 miles apart from each other. Within these fully
staffed stations will be general medical supplies as well as special anti-venom supplies
only dispensed in the case of an emergency. These stations will serve as a solution to the
issue of transporting an injured person to a treatment area.
 When manual labor is required by the government or a private organization the site of
construction must be within a 10-mile radius of the previously mentioned health stations,
or a hospital or other medical dispensary. With this protocol in place, workers are
protected from working in areas that do not have medical readiness in the case of a snake
incident. Companies who want to continue to develop infrastructure and other projects
that require manual labor will be forced to only contract new construction in these
designated areas.
 New sanctions will be placed on any organization that intentionally alters medicines from
their professionally recommended composition. This change will heavily discourage
companies from diluting medicine and anti-venom. Not only will it help with the snake
mortality rate, allowing stronger anti-venom to circulate, but also reduces the number of
other medicines that are diluted for profit.

Conclusion
Snakes are deadly, but their bites can be treated easily with modern medicine. Workers
who help build the infrastructure in India should not have to face death at the hands of venomous
snakes daily, just so they can feed their families. With the new precautions and policies put in
place, not only can workers have the peace of mind that in the case they are bitten, they will not
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die, but also that they will not need to be worried about any injury that could prove fatal without
the proper treatment.

Recommendations
1. Install medical stations with distribution proportional to that of each individual district’s
population, preferably in the proximity of 10 to 20 miles from one another.
2. Implement restrictions on building and working without medical stations in close
proximity to the work site. This is to protect the interests of workers.
3. Apply sanctions and federal action against companies that dilute medical products to
increase profit margins, in order to ensure that medicine works as intended at a proper
market value.
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References

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https://www.ces.ncsu.edu/gaston/Pests/reptiles/avoidsnakebite.htm

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an Old Problem. Retrieved March 17, 2018, from https://www.omicsonline.org/open-

access/snake-bite-in-india-current-scenario-of-an-old-problem-2161-0495.1000-

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Half the global snake bite deaths happen in India. Why are we not prepared? (2016, April 12).

Retrieved March 18, 2018, from http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/serpentine-problem-

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https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/snakes/

Venomous Snakes Types. (2016, July 01). Retrieved March 16, 2018, from

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/snakes/types.html
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