Workplace health, safety and wellbeing for Ashrams: rest, workload and safe working for resident staff
Staff who live where they work seldom switch off. Ashram kitchens, stores, goshalas and guest rooms also carry everyday physical risks that few people stop to review.
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Share your requirementsWhy workplace health, safety and wellbeing matters in ashrams
A cook lights a large fire for a hundred guests, a goshala hand lifts feed and cleans pens, and the caretaker climbs to repair a roof before the monsoon. These are daily tasks, done with little training and without protective items. At the same time, resident staff are always within reach, so rest is cut short.
Wellbeing at an ashram begins with workload and rest, then with basic safety in each area. A walk through kitchen, store, goshala and guest rooms with staff gives a list of what to fix. A written rest rule for resident staff, and a person to approach when someone is unwell, gives the rest.
How to set it up
1. Walk each work area with the staff who use it
Kitchen, stores, goshala, garden and guest rooms. Ask what worries them and what has gone wrong before. Write a list.
2. Fix the cheap and obvious items first
Clear passages, tidy storage, protective items for hot and heavy work, and a first-aid box in every area.
3. Write a rest rule for resident staff
Weekly off day, quiet hours and rules for being called after hours. Share it with the head and the manager.
4. Name a person for sickness and distress
One trusted senior knows to ask after staff who look unwell or upset and where to refer them. Keep a list of local clinics.
5. Brief temporary helpers on safe working
A short talk on the kitchen, fire points and lifting before retreat season. Ask a qualified professional about the rules for your premises.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Walk the kitchen and note anything you would not want a new helper to touch.
- Ask resident staff when they last took a full day off.
- Check whether each work area has a first-aid box and someone who knows how to use it.
- Count the injuries or near misses in the last year that anyone remembers.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach workplace health, safety and wellbeing in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
The trustees and the manager are, even if the work is described as seva. Confirm with a qualified professional what duties apply to your premises and your mix of staff and volunteers.
Set a weekly off day and quiet hours in writing. Where possible, let the person be away from the premises on their day off, and plan cover so they are not called.
Review their tasks with them. Offer lighter work or help with heavy items, and treat the conversation as care for them, not a removal of status.