Occupational safety measures and morbidity among welders in Vellore, Southern India

Abstract

Background: Welders in the unorganized occupational sector in the economically developing world are exposed to respiratory, skin, eye, ear, and neurological problems exacerbated by non-usage of personal protective equipment (PPE). Objective: To study the frequency of health problems and the usage of PPE among welders in unorganized welding units in Vellore, India. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 150 welders to determine the frequency of skin, ear, eye, and respiratory morbidity and the usage of PPE. A group of 150 non-welders were chosen for comparison. Results: Significant differences in the frequency of skin burns, redness, hyper pigmentation, itching, eye injuries, and sensorineural deafness were observed among the welders and non-welders (P < 0.001). Hypertension was noted in 12.6% of the welders as compared to 0.7% among the non-welders. None of the welders used appropriate PPE. For welders, low educational attainment was associated with an increased risk of eye injury (P < 0.05, OR = 0.29). There was also a significant difference between sensorineural deafness and a welder having less than 10 years of welding work experience (P < 0.001, OR = 18.18) which could probably be accounted for by the healthy worker effect. Conclusion: Welders in this sample experienced a significant skin, eye, and ear morbidity accentuated by the non-usage of PPE. All worked without formal training and were unaware of the safe working guidelines that exist, but are not implemented for the welders in India.

Ocular chemical burns in the workplace: Epidemiological characteristics

“…In this work, solderers have been included in the industrial sector, without precise data, but it is demonstrated that they are at high occupational risk of eye injury. This is similar to the findings of Alexander et al (11). They can be considered a target group for enforcing the future use of PPE.…”

“…Employees such as solderers, with a high risk of injury to eyes, skin and hearing, usually work without formal prevention training, and they are not aware of the existing safety protocols (11). In this work, solderers have been included in the industrial sector, without precise data, but it is demonstrated that they are at high occupational risk of eye injury.…”

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