International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health (nepjol.info)
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Identification of a suitable working posture for female workers engaged in golden thread work
Get PDFBackground: The golden thread (jori) work is one of the major home based industries providing employment to thousands of artisans spread over several rural areas of the West Bengal. The study is essentially labor intensive and thus workers are prone to suffer from work related health problems. Objective: The present study was aimed to evaluate the musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and postural stress of the female golden thread workers. Methods: The study was carried on 123 adult female golden thread workers in different districts of West Bengal. The prevalence of MSD, body part discomfort rating (BPD) and postural stress (by OWAS, RULA, REBA method) of the workers were evaluated by standard methods. The EMG of shoulder and back muscle was recorded with the help of the BIOPAC system. Result: The results showed that the prevalence of MSDs, BPD rating and postural stress were comparatively lower in case of sitting on the floor with folded legs than squatting and sitting on the floor with stretched legs. The EMG and RMS values of EMG voltage of shoulder and back muscle were comparatively lower in this posture than that of other two postures. Conclusion: It was therefore, concluded that sitting on the floor with folded legs was less hazardous and it imposed less postural stress in comparison to other sitting postures adopted by the golden thread workers.International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, Vol 4 No 2 (2014) 24 – 3
Ergonomic Evaluation of Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders and Postural Stress among Male Potato Cultivators of West Bengal, India
Get PDFBackground: Apart from cereal production (rice, wheat, etc.) agricultural labourers are engaged in vegetable cultivation in West Bengal, India. Potato cultivation is one of the important vegetable cultivation in India. The potato cultivation tasks are repetitive in nature and those are carried out mainly by manual efforts. Most of the tasks of potato cultivation are monotonous, strenuous, physiologically demanding as well as time-consuming.Objective: The present study was aimed to evaluate musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and postural stress among male workers engaged in different potato cultivation jobs. Methods: The study was conducted on 163 male potato cultivators in different districts of West Bengal state. A modified Nordic Questionnaire and Body Part Discomfort scale were applied to identify MSDs in different body parts. The postural pattern was assessed by direct observation method. The postural stress was analyzed by OWAS, REBA and QEC methods. Result: The results show that the prevalence of MSDs was very high among the workers and the most affected areas were back and upper extremity. Postural analysis indicated that the subjects had to adopt different stressful postures during performing different potato cultivation jobs. During potato harvesting operation the workers were subjected to greater postural stress than that of other tasks.Conclusion: Postural stress might be the reason of the occurrence of MSDs. From this study it has been recommended that workers should avoid bad work postures as far as possible during work for reducing job related health hazards.International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, Vol 4 No 2 (2014) 05 – 1
Prevalence, job risk factors and coping strategies of Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders among Physiotherapists
Get PDFBackground: Physiotherapists, despite having good knowledge of work related musculoskeletal disorders, are not immune to it. As literature related to these injuries in Physiotherapy profession in India is scarce, this study aims to investigate prevalence of work related musculoskeletal disorder, job risk factors commonly involved and coping strategies used among Physiotherapist in India.
Methods: A semi structured questionnaire adopted from questionnaires used for similar studies around the world was circulated to 314 Physiotherapists. A total of 271 questionnaires were received back with a response rate of 86%. Mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage and chi square test were used as appropriate for data analysis.
Results: Prevalence of work related musculoskeletal disorders was found to be 62.73%. Lower back region was affected the most (65.3%) followed by neck (41.8%) and shoulder (26.5%). As per response of therapists in this study, the most common risk factors were: working in static positions for longer periods (77%), treating large number of patients in single day (68.2%) and bending and twisting back in awkward positions (65.8%).Common coping strategies adopted by respondents were: modifying positions of patient and self (54.1%), adjusting height of treatment surface (47.1%) and selection of techniques that does not aggravate or provoke discomfort (41.8%).
Conclusion: This study has identified the prevalence of work related musculoskeletal disorders among Physiotherapists in India and possible risk factors associated with this profession. It has also identified the common coping strategies utilized by therapists. These findings would be significant in modifying risk factors to prevent and/or minimize work related musculoskeletal disorders among physiotherapists
Psychosocial factors associated with occupation: A comparative study between brick kiln and grocery workers
Get PDFBackground: Psychosocial factors, like physical, chemical and biological factors, are also the potential hazards. But, psychological factors, such as stress, are not mentioned in every kinds of occupation. Some important psychosocial manifestations found among the workers in previous studies were headache, depression, frustration, worry, low self-esteem, boredom and lack of sleep.
Objective: This study was carried out to evaluate and psychosocial factors that are associated with occupational factor between brick kiln workers and grocery workers.
Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in Kathmandu Valley during February-March 2015 i, targeting all the brick kiln workers. Firstly, all the registered the brick kilns (106 in number) were visited to form the potential sampling frame. Multi-stage probability proportionate to size sampling was applied to select 400 brick kiln workers from 16 brick kilns who had been working there for more than two years. An equal size unmatched reference group was maintained from the grocery workers. Interviews were conducted by trained health workers.
Data was entered in the Microsoft (MS) excel and was transferred into the International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistics 21 was used to perform analysis. Both descriptive and (mean, median and inter-quartile range) and inferential (Mann Whitney U test) statistics were computed. The level of significance was set at <0.05.
Results: Nearly 20.0% of exposed workers were <19 years of age among which slightly above three fifth achieved primary education. Almost 40% of brick kiln workers were ever smokers. Positive factors of psychosocial and emotional functioning were lower and negative factors were higher among brick kiln workers.
The parameters of relationships such as self-esteem, stress and personal agency and the parameters of emotions like emotional, somatic, chronic fear, anxiety, hopelessness, helplessness, abuse and mal-treatment were better and significantly better respectively, in the reference group than the exposed group. However, the social factor was significantly poor among the reference group i.e. the grocery workers as observed while conducting Mann Whitney U test at p<0.05 level.
Conclusion: Among most of the parameters, brick kiln workers\u27 psychosocial functioning was significantly poorer than the grocery workers. Providing formal and/or non-formal education as well as raising awareness about the deleterious effects of the exposure to brick kiln workers should be recommended
A cross-sectional study on the nutritional status and morbidity profile of tribal and non-tribal female brick-field workers of Paschim Medinipur district
Get PDFObjective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the socioeconomic, anthropometric status and health morbidity profile of tribal and non tribal female brick-field workers of Paschim Medinipur district. Study design: Assessment of socioeconomic, health and nutritional parameters were done using 300 tribal & non tribal brick-field female workers at the age group of 18-30 years after randomized sampling. Place and duration of study: The study was done in 30 brick-fields located in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal in the month of November and December, 2013 for a period of 60 days. Methodology: Through oral questionnaire methods, socioeconomic studies, health morbidity profile and dietary assessments were performed. Anthropometric parameters were measured by the conventional anthropometric methods.Results: From the study it was observed that most of the women workers were illiterate. Female workers of non tribal and tribal groups engaged in this industry were living below the poverty line and the tribal workers showed poor economic status than the non-tribal women workers. The female workers showed significant decrease in height, weight and body mass index, compared to the Indian national standard values. Mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) and waist-hip ratio (WHR) was also significantly lower to the Indian national standard in both age groups of female workers. The intake of energy, protein, carbohydrate carotene, riboflavin, dietary fiber, calcium and iron were significantly lower compared to the standard ICMR RDA. Conclusion: The female workers engaged in brick manufacturing works are mostly illiterate, economically backward, which make them vulnerable to health insecurity. Malnutrition among tribal & non tribal female workers is a problem that has perhaps been under-recognized, and should now take greater priority.International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, Vol 4 No 2 (2014) 51 – 5
Hearing Loss among the Traffic Police in Kathmandu Valley – finding from a pilot cross-sectional study
Get PDFBackground: Noise induced hearing loss has been increasing rapidly with the advancement of technological, industrial and anthropogenic growth. Hearing loss is identified to be minimizing psychosocial well-being of an individual and reduced economic activities apart from deafness. This study aimed to measure the noise induced health impairment in traffic polices of Kathmandu valley.
Methods and Materials: The cross-study was conducted among eighty traffic police in the Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts of Nepal. Purposive stratified sampling method was used for the study. A semi structured interview guide was developed to assess the physical findings and an audiometric test were also conducted with each individual traffic personnel to assess the hearing impairment.
Results: The study identified Chabahil in Kathmandu with highest level of noise at 90 A-weighted decibel. Overall, moderate hearing loss in the left ear was reported in 55% of the respondents and mild hearing list in right ear in 46.3% of the respondents. The study found bilateral moderate hearing loss in all the respondent serving more than twenty years in traffic management. The effects of getting tired (80%), difficulties in concentration (76.3%) and increased irritation (72%) were identified as the high ranked health effects.
Conclusion: The study reinforces the need of further exploration as this occupational health issue is a growing public health concern
Surgical Management of Mucocele by Using Diode Laser: Two Case Reports
Get PDFMucoceles are benign, mucus-containing cystic lesions of the minor salivary glands. They are not true cysts since most of them lack an epithelial lining. These lesion occur most commonly in the lower lip. This case report presents two cases of mucocele on the lower and upper lips. This lesion was diagnosed based on history, clinical finding and histopathological examination. The excision of the lesion was planed using diode laser. After re-evaluation of both the patients healing was satisfactory.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijosh.v4i1.12167  
In vitro identification and Antifungal susceptibility of different Candida Species isolated from patients with or without Diabetes having Chronic Periodontitis
Get PDFBackground: Candida albicans is the commonly associated species with oral lesions, but other Candida spp., such as C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, C. krusei, and C. dubliniensis have also been isolated from the human saliva, even irrespective to the oral candidiasis. Candidal colonization has also been documented from subgingival plaque of adults with periodontitis.Objective: Nowadays there is a great demand of natural herbal medicines. For a Diabetic person having Periodontitis, the use antifungal drugs are must. Therefore the antifungal capacity of the commonly used drug and herbs has been evaluated.Methods: For the study, the patients were screened and categorised into two study and one control group, having 20 patients in each group, on the basis of their respective Blood Glucose level and Dental status using standard clinical parameters. Oral rinse of 60 patients including both gender were selected from the Out Patient Department of Periodontitis, Rungta College of Dental Sciences and Research, Chhattisgarh. Chrome Candida Agar Media was used to identify Candida albicans and NAC. In vitro tests of the effectiveness of selected antimycotic agents against test candidal isolates recovered from the patient were performed to check the efficacy of the antifungal agents by the Kirby-Bauer Disc Diffusion method.Result: We found that by the use of this chromogenic media most of the commonly recovered NAC can be easily distinguished as each species produced the widest range of colours and morphologies. The herbal extracts Aloe Vera and Garlic failed to inhibit the growth of the candidal species but Neem, Meetha Neem, Triphala, Tulsi showed sensitivity to varying degree. Now a day there are much popularity of using herbal products, having its extracts incorporated in the cosmetics and other products used by humans.Conclusion: We conducted the sensitivity check of the candidal isolates against the dental dentrifices and found that however all the toothpastes contained herbal extracts capable of destroying bacteria but it did not showed good results against candidal species except the Patanjali Toothpaste. This may be due the fact that Patanjali Dant Kanti Dental Cream has the combination of all the herbal extract mixed altogether. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijosh.v4i1.1216
Assessment of dental erosion status among battery factory workers in Mandideep, India
Get PDFIntroduction: Occupational factors may be considered responsible for dental erosion among battery factory workers since they were exposed to sulfuric acid fumes created by the harmful processes known as forming and charging.Methods: A sample consisted of 138 battery factory workers (85 acid exposed workers and 53 controls) drawn as a convenient sample from 3 different battery factories of Mandideep, India. A pre-tested proforma, completed by interview, was used to collect information on medical and dental histories. Clinical examination of battery factory workers was done to assess dental erosion using tooth wear index given by Smith and Knight. Data related to dental erosion score of acid worker and control group was compared using Mann Whitney U test. Categorical data was analyzed by chi-square test.Results: The battery factory workers showed a propensity for higher erosion scores. The result of present survey showed a total of 74 percent of acid exposed workers had erosion compared to 37.7 percent of the controls. Statistical difference in erosion scores between acid exposed group and control group was found significant (p value<0.05).Conclusion: Present study revealed that long term exposure of sulphuric acid mists in the working environment significantly increased the chances of dental erosion among exposed workers. There is urgent need for surveillance and routine monitoring of acid fumes at workplace coupled with education about occupational hazards, positive worksite oral health promotion and training for standardized behaviors such as use of personal protective equipment to decrease occupational erosion. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijosh.v4i1.1216
Body Status and Occupational Health Hazards of Female Workers : A Comparative Analysis
Get PDFObjective: Health is nothing but a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing not merely the absence of disease. Health depends on life style and requires the promotion of healthy life style. Health is both a consequence of an individual’s life style and factors in determining it. Working pattern or type of work has long been known to influence human health specially. The present study was under taken to evaluate the body status and physiological stress and occupational health hazards of the female workers.Methods: According to the work load the working group was classified in to low physical work group (LPWG) and the moderate type of physical work group (MPWG). Eighty women (forty in each group), excluding pregnant women, were selected from the municipal area of Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India, aged between 20 to 40 years. The anthropometric measurement and skin fold thickness were taken, from which the body mass index (BMI) and fat percentage were determined. The blood pressure of all the subjects was taken by mercury sphygmomanometer at resting condition. The occupational health hazards were determined by questionnaire technique.Result: The result indicates that the MPWG workers suffer in significantly (p<0.001) low weight, BMI and Fat% than that of the LPWG workers. The MPWG workers also suffer from significantly (p<0.001) higher percentage of musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) at neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, finger, cuff and feet-ankle joint. MPWG workers, hemoglobin concentration also significantly (p<0.01) lower than that of the LPWG workers.Conclusion: It may be concluded that, this study is helpful to identify the risk factor for the occurrence of different cardiovascular as well as musculoskeletal abnormalities and accordingly prevention program, regarding proper food habit be undertaken. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijosh.v4i1.1216