Fifteen sets of bulletproof vests and helmets were purchased on Wednesday for workers at the Yide Road construction site in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, Guangzhou Daily reported.

A helmet [Photo/Information Times]	A bulletproof vest [Photo/Information Times]

A person with Guangzhou Metro said the investment was for the safety of workers in the aftermath of three shootings in the past two months.

A worker was shot in the back on April 3, and two other shootings occurred in March, which broke some glass but didn't cause any injuries.

Half of the workers, about 30, remained at the 2,000-square-meter construction site, and they are now on morning and night shifts.

For the workers, who are used to working with bare arms, the 5-kilogram gear (2-kilogram helmet and 3-kilogram bulletproof vest) is a heavy burden.

"But I will wear them nevertheless on night shifts," said a worker surnamed Li, pointing to a hole in an electric box. "It's scary thinking of a gun pointing at me at night… Protecting my life is more important."

But not everyone is happy about the bulletproof vests. "They would probably work throughout the night now with those vests… It's quite annoying for us living nearby," said a nearby resident surnamed Zhang.

Zhang Yong, the construction team leader, said, "I hope people would show more understanding as it's the last two or three months of our ground construction. It would be better to make complaints to the authorities instead of hurting our workers."