Assessment of Ergonomic and Occupational Health-Related Problems Among Female Prawn Seed Collectors of Sunderbans, West Bengal, India

Das, Banibrata; Ghosh, Tirthankar; Gangopadhyay, Somnath

doi:10.1080/10803548.2012.11076949

Cited by 34 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Therefore, the heart has to beat faster to supply more blood to the muscle to provide energy. The present findings are supported by the findings of Guyton 36) , who also emphasized that stretching of muscles caused vasoconstriction in the muscles, which resulted in restriction of blood flow and in turn increased systolic blood pressure. The physiological parameters (heart rate and blood pressure) of the experimental subjects were also increased just after completion of work due to performance of highly repetitive actions during work (spading, planting seeds and sprinkling water) and high environmental temperature (especially when picking crops and carrying crops).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Child Work in Agriculture in West Bengal, India: Assessment of Musculoskeletal Disorders and Occupational Health Problems

Das

Ghosh²,

Gangopadhyay³

2013

Journal of Occupational Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Child Work in Agriculture in West Bengal, India: Assessment of Musculoskeletal Disorders and Occupational Health Problems: Banibrata DAS, et al. Department of Physiology, South Calcutta Girls' College University of Calcutta, India— Objective Children are universally considered to be the most important asset for any nation. The main aims of the present study were 1) to investigate the causation of discomfort related to working postures 2) to assess the physiological strain among the child farmers and 3) to assess the thermal stress during work in an agricultural field. Methods For this study, 120 child agricultural workers and 120 control subjects aged 10−16 years were selected randomly, and a detailed posture analysis was performed among them by REBA and OWAS methods. The Modified Nordic Questionnaire was applied to assess the discomfort felt among both groups of workers. Physiological assessment of workload was carried out by recording the heart rate and blood pressure of the workers prior to work and just after work in the field. Results Child agricultural workers suffered from pain especially in the low back (98%), knees (88%), hands (82%), shoulder (77%) and neck (68%). Among the agricultural activities in potato cultivation, the child potato workers, felt discomfort during spading (99%), sprinkling water (90%) and picking crops (87%). The post‐activity heart rate of the child agricultural workers was 170.1 beats/min, whereas the systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 129.0 and 67.0 mm/Hg respectively. Conclusions Most of the agricultural activities in potato cultivation were strenuous ones that affect the children, who suffered from acute pain and discomfort for a long period of time, which mainly hampers and restricts their education.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Child Work in Agriculture in West Bengal, India: Assessment of Musculoskeletal Disorders and Occupational Health Problems

Das

Ghosh²,

Gangopadhyay³

2013

Journal of Occupational Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This study also supports the fact that low back pain represents the most common and most expensive MSD experienced in the workplace. This result corroborates with the work of Das et al 23 According to them, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) have been positively associated with constant awkward bending postures for prolonged period of time. This study also revealed that female brick field workers suffered more discomfort feeling than male workers.…”

Section: Commentssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…This study also revealed that female brick field workers suffered more discomfort feeling than male workers. This result was supported by Das et al, 23 they found in other studies that female workers suffered more discomfort feeling than male workers because they perform extra hand-intensive jobs in their home also, which is another causative factor for more discomfort feeling (pain). This study also shows that, among the brick field workers reporting subjective discomfort, most of them felt pain, followed by tingling and numbness in their hands.…”

Section: Commentssupporting

confidence: 66%

Prevalence of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among the Brick Field Workers of West Bengal, India

Das

2014

Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Brick field industry is one of the most important and oldest industries in India, where millions of workers suffered from work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). The main aim of the present investigation was to assess the prevalence of WMSDs among brick field workers. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 216 brick field workers. A modified Nordic questionnaire was applied among them. In brick making industry, the workers adopt different unfavorable actions, such as frequent bending; bending and twisting of the body; and working above shoulder height, which may lead to severe pain in different parts of the body, especially lower back (brick carriers: 90%; moulders: 92%; fireman: 75%; stackers: 88%) and neck (brick carriers: 89%; moulders: 88%; fireman: 54%; stackers: 72%), It was concluded from the study that health of the brick field workers was highly affected due to working in different awkward postures for long periods.

show abstract

“…If brick field workers are constantly engaged in hand-intensive jobs, they may be affected by discomfort (pain) in the upper extremities and significant changes in the hand-grip strength [19]. This result also corroborates with the work of Das et al [20] and Alperovitch-Najenson et al [21] who suggest that workers, constantly engaged in hand-intensive jobs, are likely to suffer from upper limbs MSDs. Our results revealed that the decreased hand-grip strength may be related to increased loading at the proximal end, that is, muscles at the cervical spine and shoulder joints may have to exert greater forces in order to control the arm movements.…”

Section: O R I G I N a L P A P E R B Das Ijomeh 2014;27(3)supporting

confidence: 80%

Assessment of occupational health problems and physiological stress among the brick field workers of West Bengal, India

Das¹

2014

International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives:The brick field industry is one of the oldest industries in India, which employs a large number of workers of poor socioeconomic status. The main aim of the present investigation is i) to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among brick field workers, ii) to determine the prevalence of respiratory disorders and physiological stress among brick field workers compared to control workers. Material and Methods: For this study, a total of 220 brick field workers and 130 control subjects were selected randomly. The control subjects were mainly involved in hand-intensive jobs. The Modified Nordic Questionnaire was applied to assess the discomfort felt among both groups of workers. Thermal stress was also assessed by measuring the WBGT index. The pulmonary functions were checked using the spirometry. Physiological assessment of the workload was carried out by recording the heart rate and blood pressure of the workers prior to work and just after work in the field. Results: Brick field workers suffered from pain especially in the lower back (98%), hands (93%), knees (86%), wrists (85%), shoulders (76%) and neck (65%). Among the brick-making activities, brick field workers felt discomfort during spading for mud collection (98%), carrying bricks (95%) and molding (87%). The results showed a significantly lower p value < 0.001 in FVC, FEV 1 , FEV 1 /FVC ratio and PEFR in brick field workers compared to the control group. The post-activity heart rate of the brick field workers was 148.6 beats/min, whereas the systolic and diastolic blood pressure results were 152.8 and 78.5 mm/Hg, respectively. Conclusions: This study concludes that health of the brick field workers was highly affected due to working in unhealthy working conditions for a long period of time.

show abstract

Assessment of Ergonomic and Occupational Health-Related Problems Among Female Prawn Seed Collectors of Sunderbans, West Bengal, India

Abstract: Sixty female prawn seed collectors and 60 female control subjects from Sajenakhali andmusculoskeletal disorders physiological stress prawn seed collectors hand grip strength rapid entire body assessment (REBA)

Cited by 34 publications

References 22 publications

Child Work in Agriculture in West Bengal, India: Assessment of Musculoskeletal Disorders and Occupational Health Problems

Child Work in Agriculture in West Bengal, India: Assessment of Musculoskeletal Disorders and Occupational Health Problems

Prevalence of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among the Brick Field Workers of West Bengal, India

Assessment of occupational health problems and physiological stress among the brick field workers of West Bengal, India

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About