In spite of the hue and cry there is no single agency which monitors or studies the health and working environment of Alang workers. There is no database on either the number of workers who die every year or the kind of health problems they face. The statistics available with the Bhavnagar police are only of spot deaths at Alang. A large number of workers who fall sick at Alang and go back to their native villages die there. Neither health workers nor the authorities ever come to know of the cause.

The Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) which manages Alang has introduced ‘worker safety’ campaigns and awareness programmes. Films are occasionally screened on handling of hazardous material. The GMB introduced safety audits three years ago and results of the evaluations are conveyed to shipbreakers for improvement in safety implementation. However, except for providing helmets and gloves, nothing much has improved in the last three years. The 2006-07 safety audit is in progress.