Planning a labour camp: a practical guide for project teams

Every decision in a labour camp flows from headcount. Plan for the peak workforce, not the average, and note how that peak changes over the project. A camp that suits 150 workers in the foundations stage may need to hold far more during structure and finishing.

• —Peak headcount and how long it lasts.
• —Shift pattern — day and night shifts can share some facilities at different times.
• —Separate accommodation needs, such as supervisors, women workers or families.
• —How long the camp will stand, and whether it moves to another project afterwards.

Once the headcount is known, the layout follows a few fixed rules: sleeping blocks in rows with lanes between them, toilets and the septic tank downwind and set apart, the mess and water tank upwind, and one gate past a security cabin. The plan below shows how those pieces fit together; the sections after it explain each one.

Whichever you choose, give each person a bed, secure storage for belongings and space to move between bunks. Crowded rooms are hotter, harder to keep clean and slower to evacuate. Lockable lockers or trunks under the lower bunk reduce theft and disputes, and a shelf and hook for each worker keeps the floor clear for cleaning.

In most of India, heat is the biggest comfort problem. Insulated wall and roof panels make the largest difference, followed by cross-ventilation: windows on opposite walls, ceiling or wall fans and vents high in the room to let hot air escape. A roof overhang or veranda shades the walls and gives a dry place to sit.

Aerocon panel structures suit longer-stay camps because their solid walls feel steadier in temperature and quieter at night. PUF-insulated cabins suit camps that must move often. Orient the long walls to avoid the full afternoon sun where the site allows.

Plan adequate toilets, bathing spaces and washing areas for the number of occupants, as required by the labour regulations that apply to your project and state. Your safety and compliance team, or the local authority, can confirm the provisions expected. Separate facilities are needed where women workers are accommodated.

• —Place toilet blocks close enough to be used at night, but downwind and set apart from kitchens and sleeping rooms.
• —Give bath areas proper drainage and non-slip floors; they carry the most water of any building in the camp.
• —Provide drinking water points away from toilets and washing areas.
• —Plan the mess and kitchen with ventilation, washable surfaces and a separate store for food.
• —Keep cooking in the designated kitchen, never inside sleeping rooms.

Labour camps concentrate many sleeping people in one place, so fire safety deserves attention from the first sketch. Keep clear spacing between blocks, provide two ways out of larger rooms and dormitories, and keep escape routes free of storage. Fire extinguishers, alarms and lighting provisions should be planned with your project's safety team.

Non-combustible wall panels such as Aerocon add a margin of safety. Electrical installations should be properly designed and protected; much camp fire risk comes from overloaded extension leads and improvised connections.

Give every room enough sockets for phone charging and a fan, fitted in the right places. Where there are too few points, workers improvise, and improvised wiring is where fires start. Protect circuits properly at the distribution board and keep cooking gas cylinders outside sleeping blocks.

A good camp is more than sleeping rooms and toilets. Workers who have somewhere to eat, wash clothes and rest in the shade stay healthier and are more likely to stay for the whole project.

• —A covered dining area next to the kitchen, with washable tables and good ventilation.
• —Clothes washing and drying areas with their own drainage.
• —A first-aid room or cabin, with space for a visiting doctor if the camp is large.
• —A security cabin at the entrance and lighting along lanes and around toilet blocks.
• —Storage for workers' tools and personal protective equipment outside the sleeping rooms.
• —A small office for the camp in-charge to manage allocation, cleaning and maintenance.

Site the camp on higher ground, raise the blocks on plinths and plan storm-water drains before the monsoon arrives. Standing water around a camp brings mosquitoes and illness. Lay out blocks in rows with clear lanes for access, maintenance and emergency vehicles.

Build for the next project too. Modular bunk houses, toilet cabins and mess blocks can be lifted, trucked and re-installed on another site, so the camp becomes an asset rather than a write-off. Standardising module sizes makes relocation and reuse far simpler.

• —Keep a register of every module, its size and its condition, so the next camp can be planned from what you already own.
• —Use detachable service connections so modules can be disconnected quickly and safely.
• —Before a move, repair damage and repaint exposed steel; a camp that is refreshed between projects lasts much longer.

Share your peak headcount, site layout and expected project duration, and we can suggest a camp layout and the structures to build it from.