ToR - Occupational Safety, Working Conditions and Workspace Design Support for Jaggery Processing Units used by Vulnerable Individual End Users

About SELCO Foundation:

SELCO Foundation’s mission is to create a platform of solutions that uses sustainable energy as a catalyst to bridge environmental sustainability and poverty alleviation. With holistic development as the primary focus, the organization strives to create equitable societies, where services are accessed by all communities. The interventions of SELCO lead to a sustainable delivery model of essential services such as livelihoods, education and health till the last mile. (Read more about SELCO here: http://www.selcofoundation.org/)

About the Programme

In Karnataka’s jaggery-producing clusters — Pandavapura in Mandya district, and North Karnataka, particularly the Hubballi–Dharwad region — many vulnerable and economically disadvantaged individuals are engaged in jaggery-based livelihoods, operating small and decentralized processing units that range from smaller to larger-capacity setups.

The jaggery-making process — cane crushing followed by prolonged open-pan boiling over solid-fuel furnaces — exposes the individuals who operate and work in these units to significant health and safety risks. Fine airborne particulates, bagasse dust, ash and smoke are released during crushing and furnace operation and are frequently inhaled, often with no masks or protective covering, contributing to respiratory and other health problems. Workers also face heat stress and burns from proximity to open boiling pans and furnaces, injury risk from crusher machinery, ergonomic strain and drudgery from manual handling, and hygiene risks — often in poorly ventilated spaces.

Support for such units has often focused narrowly on spatial layout and design. This engagement takes a broader view: the objective is not only to improve the design and layout of the workspace, but to improve the health, safety and overall working conditions of the individuals who operate and work in these units, while also supporting product quality and hygiene.

SELCO Foundation, in coordination with relevant local stakeholders, proposes a three-month engagement to diagnose the most pressing health, safety and working-condition problems faced in these units, and to develop practical, affordable design and workplace-safety solutions across a defined set of unit types. The engagement aims to reduce exposure, drudgery and risk, strengthen and sustain these livelihoods, and document reusable approaches for future livelihood-enhancement programmes.

Roles and Responsibilities

SELCO Foundation

• Identify and facilitate access to selected jaggery processing units used by vulnerable individual end users in Pandavapura and North Karnataka (Hubballi–Dharwad), in coordination with relevant local stakeholders.
• Coordinate field visits and introductions with local partners and community institutions.
• Share available baseline information, programme objectives and implementation timelines.
• Review and approve key deliverables, designs, reports and documentation.
• Provide technical guidance and periodic feedback throughout the engagement.
• Facilitate coordination with government departments, certification bodies and relevant stakeholders wherever required.
• Monitor overall programme progress and support issue resolution.

Consultant / Agency

• Conduct detailed assessments and occupational health & safety diagnosis of jaggery processing units in Pandavapura and North Karnataka (Hubballi–Dharwad).
• Identify and clearly articulate the most pressing field problems affecting the individuals who operate and work in these units.
• Develop workspace improvements and health & safety interventions across the nine unit designs, ensuring solutions go beyond spatial layout.
• Conduct safety and hygiene audits and document occupational safety, health and working-condition standards.
• Recommend appropriate, affordable protective measures/PPE and support relevant food-safety/quality registration readiness.
• Prepare architectural drawings, 2D/3D visualisations and Bills of Quantities.
• Submit all reports, designs, documents and deliverables within the agreed timelines, and coordinate regularly with SELCO Foundation, incorporating feedback during implementation.

Note: Any field visits for primary data collection are to be planned with the SELCO Foundation team, and the SELCO Foundation team should be involved and consulted at every stage of research and design development for better coordination and understanding of the context, process and outcome.

Submission Requirements

Interested collaborators (individuals, teams or agencies) are requested to submit the following before the deadline:

• Organisational/Individual Profile – brief profile, relevant experience and team composition.
• Proposed Approach – understanding of the assignment, methodology, field approach and proposed work plan.
• Relevant Portfolio – examples of previous relevant work.
• Team Profile – CVs/profiles of key personnel proposed for the assignment.
• Detailed Work Plan – week-wise/month-wise activities, milestones and deliverables.
• Financial Proposal – deliverable-wise (activity-wise) cost breakup, including professional fees and other applicable costs.
• Travel Budget – tentative travel requirements and estimated costs, where applicable.

To Apply

Interested consultants/organisations, with relevant experience (please include samples and/or references of previous similar work as proof of experience) and based out of India, are requested to submit a detailed proposal covering methodology, process, budgets (with break-ups and explanation), timelines and milestones via the Google form: https://forms.gle/D2b2cK2f7n1aCxpU8 on or before 22^nd August 2026, 5 PM.

Queries: procurement@selcofoundation.org

Subject line: Occupational Safety, Working Conditions and Workspace Design Support – Jaggery Processing Units, Pandavapura and North Karnataka

To download the full ToR, click here: ToR for Occupational Safety, Working Conditions and Workspace Design Support for Jaggery Processing Units used by Vulnerable Individual End Users