Skates give Indian factory workers true 'mobility of labour'

Workers in Indian textile factories have given a new meaning to the idea of rolling production lines – by learning to do their jobs on skates rather than foot.



More than 2,000 staff in mills in the industrial city of Coimbatore have been trained to do their work on roller skates in a bid to speed their progress across the shop floor and improve productivity.

Previously, walking up and down the length of a 150ft loom or spinning frame could take several minutes, and proved exhausting by the end of a shift. Now, however, employees glide around effortlessly in what is fast becoming a standard industry practice.

What began as a novel experiment a couple of years ago has spread fast, with many of the big mills issuing skates for their staff to make the work more fun and improve work rates.