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ThesisItem Open Access Ergonomic Assessment of Old Age Homes in Haryana(CCSHAU, 2019) AnjuKumari; Mehta, ManjuOld age is a period of transition when one has to deal not only with the physical aging, but also with the challenges affecting the mental and social well-being. Due to the urbanization and job requirement of the young people, nuclear family system is fast coming up leaving the older people neglected, consequently, having no choice other than living in old age homes. Present study was conducted in randomly selected Hisar and Sirsa districts in Haryana state. One OAH having the maximum number of inmates in each district was selected purposively. OAH selected from Hisar was Moksha old age home (OAH-1) and from Sirsa it was Kasturba Gandhi varidhaaasram (OAH-2). In the selected old age home there were 50 inmates out of which 42 inmates from Hisar and 8 inmates from Sirsa were selected. A set of 13 independent variables (personal and socio-economic) and two dependent variables constituted the variables for the study. The results regarding socio-economic and personal profile of the respondents revealed that 44.0 per cent of the respondents were in age group of 70-80 years, illiterate (46.0%), widow/widower (70.0%), belonged to general category (54.0%), had joint family system (62.0%) and medium family size (40.0%). Less than three-fourth of the respondents (74.0%) had poor vision followed by constipation (66.0%), dental problem (64.0%) and joint pains (50.0%). Temperature of the OAH-1 was 26.5oC and OAH-2 was 27oC which was little higher than the recommended value. Humidity of the old age home was 47.3% and 49.0% in the OAH-1 and OAH-2 respectively which was less than recommended value. In bedroom; bed, table and chair were not ergonomically designed, floor was slippery, and cupboard was away from bed. In bathroom handrails, adjustable shower, lever –type tap and lever-type door handle were not available and stairways was not slippery, handrails on both side and proper lighting at stairs was only in OAH-1and OAH-2 suitable ramp height and handrails were not available. The habitat room‟s facilities, viz.room, dormitory, attached bathroom, cupboards, room heater and room cooler were available except the single rooms and three seater rooms. Results revealed that majority of the respondents (84.0%) were able to go to toilet by their own, able to eat, bath and dress them without any assistance. Respondents were functionally able in toileting and feeding activities, moderately dependent in grooming and severely dependent in activities of bathing. Overall housing hazards related to furniture got first rank, followed by stairs, whereas bedrooms got third rank and toilet got fourth rank. Bathrooms and entrance got fifth and sixth rank. Correlation between socio-economic variables and housing hazards and health problems were found significant at 5 % level of significance. Overall ergonomic conditions in the old age home were not up to the mark.ThesisItem Open Access Time and financial management practices of self-employed rural women(CCSHAU, 2019) Rekha Rani; Sehgal, BinooTo operate any economic activities we need particular resources which are to be integrated in terms of money. Women make up one third of the working classes and comprise about half of the country‟s population. Improvement of women is recognized as integration in the convention of the development. The objectives of the present study were to study the time and financial management practices of self-employed rural women, to assess the contribution of rural self-employed women towards family well-being and to find out the constraints faced by the respondents and to suggest remedies. The data for the study were collected using interview schedule. Sample of 100 respondents were selected randomly from Hisar and Bhiwani district out of which 50 percent respondents were from each of the two districts. Selling of milk or ghee was the major occupation of the respondents followed by stitching/boutique (30%), grocery shop (10%), beauty parlour (9%), making and selling bangles (7%) and making and selling macramé items (5%). Majority of the respondents (48%) had family monthly income upto Rs.20,000. Some of the reasons for starting self-employment units by all the respondents were to become independent, easy availability of raw material, simple and easy procedure to start the self-employment. Majority of respondents i.e. 60 percent were working for 28-30 days, whereas the remaining respondents (40%) were working for 25-27 days per month and 59 percent respondents worked for 7-8 hours per day in their self-employment units. Decrease in availability of time for personal care and daily household activities was reported by maximum number of respondents. 82 percent agreed with the fact that increased family income raised the level of living. After starting the self-employment unit, there was improvement in traits of family members i.e. self-confidence, ability of problem solving and decision making, managerial ability, overall personality and social status. It was seen that there was an improvement in overall family well-being after starting the self-employment units.ThesisItem Open Access Ergonomic Assessment of Workers Engaged in Ironing Activity(CCSHAU, 2019) Adiel Chiba N Sangma; Sehgal, BinooIn India, ironing workers are the second largest occupational group in the garment industry. The ironing work led to the highest prevalence of repetitive traumatic and musculoskeletal disorders. WMSDs are found to be major occupational health problems among the ironing workers while performing physical work for a prolonged time period. The present study was conducted on the workers engaged in ironing activity to study their work profile and workplace conditions and to conduct the ergonomic assessment of workers engaged in ironing activity. The present study was conducted in two phases. In phase I, work profile and workplace conditions of the workers engaged in ironing activity was studied among the hundred workers of Haryana State, out of which 60 respondents belonged to Hisar city and 40 respondents belonged to Bhiwani. Out of 100 male respondents from Hisar and Bhiwani, 68 per cent of the respondents were indoor ironing workers and 32 per cent were outdoor ironing workers. Majority of the workers (68%) had a total experience of ironing work of 6-10 years. 84 percent of the respondents worked for 6-9 hours per day and majority i.e. 38 per cent of the respondents took total rest period of 1.5 hours. Maximum number of respondents (74%) ironed average 150 numbers of clothes per day. Out of 68 indoor ironing workers, 32 ironing workers and cent per cent of the outdoor ironing workers had the average income of Rs.5000-10,000 per month. In phase II, ergonomic assessment of workers was conducted on 10 ironing workers, out of which 5 were indoor workers and 5 were outdoor workers. The experiment was conducted during the month of June. The posture adopted by the indoor and outdoor ironing workers was standing with hand moving and forward bending. REBA, RULA and OWAS indicated that investigation, corrective measures and implementation of change is required. The average RPE score was observed to be 3.3 which indicated that the exertion of ironing workers was heavy and the average VAD score was found to be 7.8 which indicated that the ironing workers felt highly discomfortable. Regarding the MSDs felt by the indoor and outdoor ironing workers, it was severely felt in lower back (WMS 4.3) and lower arms (WMS 4.1). Musculoskeletal discomfort was moderately felt in shoulder (WMS 3.9), neck and ankle/feet (WMS 3.7), upper arms (WMS 3.6), upper back (WMS 3.1), knee (WMS 3.0) and calf (WMS 2.6), palm (WMS 2.4) and thigh region (WMS 2.2) of the body had mild musculoskeletal discomfort in the workers.ThesisItem Open Access Work and Workplace Interventions for Enhancing Comfort and Productivity of Workers for Making Bead Products(CCSHAU, 2019) Melkani, Ekta; Mehta, ManjuWork and workplace are the crucial parameters for determining the work capacity, productivity and efficiency of the worker in any enterprise. Mangali village of Haryana is known for bead making, a livelihood for more than 70 % of households where all the family members are involved in various activities of bead making. However, women’s involvement is higher in making beads and string (mala) making sold at minimal rates. Work and workplace improvement was needed to prevent worker from physical risk factors and enhance productivity for which training of women workers is required. Hence, the study had been planned with the objectives to investigate the work profile of women for making bead products and their hazards assessment along with providing interventions to improve the work and workplace and studying the impact of interventions on change in skill, safety and productivity. 50 women respondents involved in bead activities were assessed for workplace and related hazards. Further 30 women were provided with 8 months of training-cumworkshops for value addition of products made from beads along with the workplace improvement for which a floor sitting workstation had been designed. Significant analysis of variance (ANOVA) was observed among work profile and socio-economic variables of respondents and various hazards were identified. Workstation designed was found highly feasible, acceptable and significantly correlated with the socio-economic conditions of the respondents. Knowledge was found to be increased with significant t-values on various parameters along with skill and high symbolic adoption scores for 50 % of the respondents. Based on the adoption scores, 5 women were further selected for comfort, safety and productivity analysis. Comfort was measured on ergonomic parameters with correction in environmental conditions, reduction in grip fatigue (18.75%), reduction in overall angular deviation of body parts (36.1%), improvement in OWAS and WERA scores for body postures, improved BPDS (48.1%), VAD scores (62.18%), reduction in exertion through BORG ( ‘very strong’ to ‘moderate’) and job strain index (‘hazardous’ to ‘safe’). Safety had been provided for work and workplace activities along with a productive benefit-to-cost ratio of 1.7. Higher development for income generation could be brought with proper entrepreneurial techniques as the skill and knowledge has already been provided to women with higher efficiency. Recommendations and implications of the study were being provided for future developments among women and to generate a sustainable livelihood with similar works.ThesisItem Open Access An exploratory study on stress level among adolescents and coping mechanism(CCSHAU, 2019) Monika; Mehta, ManjuAdolescence period begin between ages 13 and 19 years and it is the transitional phase from childhood to adulthood. Stress has become a predictable word in the fast turning technical word. Stress has been experienced by almost everyone in all segment of life. The stress was ominous in earlier period now it becomes a normal part of life. The objectives of study were to assess the level of stress among adolescents, to delineate the factors causing stress among the adolescents, to identify the coping mechanism adopted by the adolescents. The present study was conducted in Hisar city of Haryana state. Two government senior secondary schools and two private schools were randomly selected. The two government senior secondary schools were Government Senior Secondary School, Model Town and Government Senior Secondary School, Patel Nagar. The two private schools were New Yashoda Public School, Siddharth International School. 200 adolescents (25 girls and 25 boys) in the age group of 15 to 19 years were selected random from each school. Total sample comprised of 200 adolescents (100 girls and 100 boys). Level of stress was assessed by using the Student Stress Scale by Zaki Akthar (2011). Results revealed that in adolescent girls and boy's main reason of stress was way of living and academic factors. Girls were more stressed due to academic factors whereas cognitive stress was found more among boys. Adolescent's girls and boys experienced moderate level of stress due to stress causing factors. As per the student stress scale level of stress was below average in girls and moderate level in boys of government schools whereas in private school both girls and boys were having moderate level of stress. Adolescent boys experienced more stress as compared to girls. Confusion was the main stress symptoms among adolescents. Adolescents adopted the relaxation technique in the form of listening music and self distraction technique in the form of playing games, watching T.V.ThesisItem Open Access Effectiveness of skill based Vocational Trainings of Eco-friendly articles for Rural Women(CCSHAU, 2019) Twinkle; Rana, KusumThe study was conducted in Jhajjar and Hisar districts of Haryana state purposively. Ukhalchana Kot, Badhani villages from Jhajjar and Mangali and Gawad villages from Hisar were selected for imparting trainings to women respondents. Twenty five respondents from each village were selected for the eco-friendly and utility articles training, comprising a total sample of 100 trainees. Various socio-personal, economic and communication variables constituted of independent variables and various effectiveness of training in terms of skill, knowledge and constraints constituted of dependent variables. The data were collected with the help of interview schedule. The data was analyzed using frequency, percentage, weighted mean score, ranks, paired „t‟ test and chi-square. The study revealed that about one third of the respondents (71%) belonged to age group between 28-39 years of age, has acquired education up to middle (26%) and primary level, married (84%) and belonged to joint family system (59%), family size of 5-6 members (45%) and medium level of family education status (53%). Majority of women respondents (44%) were housewife having a family occupation as farming (40%), half of them were not associated to any formal or non-formal organization (50%) having a material possession of medium level (53%). Majority (41%) had a family income between Rs. 40,001- Rs. 60,000, were landless (27%), having 1-2 milch animals (52%), mass media exposure to the extent of medium level (53%) and information source utilization was found to be at frequent level (45%). There was sufficient gain in knowledge among respondents after exposing the respondents to eco-friendly and utility articles trainings and responses were recorded for subcomponents viz; designing of value added articles, cutting and stitching of jute bags, preparation of eco-friendly articles, embellishment of value added articles and precautions. The women respondents succeeded in change in their attitude at post-exposure in all the vocational trainings and acquiring medium level skills in eco-friendly and utility articles. Impact assessment was of moderate level and so was the symbolic adoption. The overall impact of eco-friendly and utility article trainings was of medium level. Economic and marketing constraints were faced by majority of the respondents. The components had significant association with attitude, knowledge, overall impact and effectiveness of trainings which was evaluated with the help of chi-square test. The cost benefit ratio was more than 1 for all the eco-friendly and utility articles indicating economic viability of preparing and selling these items by the rural women in the market.ThesisItem Open Access Assessment of air quality of indoor space through use of different indoor plants(CCSHAU, 2019) Santosh Kumari; Mehta, ManjuThe present study entitled ―Assessment of air quality of indoor space through use of different indoor plants‖. Air quality ―refers to the condition of the air within surrounding. The study was undertaken to know the existing practices and knowledge regarding the indoor plants adopted by homemakers in the house of Hisar city and assesses the indoor air quality through use of indoor plants. The study was carried out in two phases, survey work and experimental work. Survey work was carried out in five randomly selected locality of Hisar city. From each selected locality 30 homemakers were randomly selected from each thus making total sample 150 homemakers. Air quality meter, thermometer and lux meter were used for assessment of air quality of indoor spaces for four weeks in Gangotari hostel of CCSHAU, Hisar. For the experimental work six rooms were selected for assessment of indoor air quality of different rooms i.e.R1(spider plant), R2(rubber plant), R3 (bamboo palm), R4 (snake plant), R5(boston fern ) and one room was RC(control room) for comparison in air quality The study revealed that level of knowledge regarding indoor plants was medium (68.6%). The maximum homemaker used seasonal plants (60.0%) and 94% use indoor plants for aesthetic purpose. A significant correlation among the socio economic status and independent variables and the knowledge and independent variables was found. In all rooms where indoor plants were placed showed improvement in indoor air quality in case of formaldehyde, suspended particulate matter and volatile organic compound. After 4th week in control room formaldehyde increased 1.60 percent whereas, room with spider plant formaldehyde decreased by 74.07%, trailed by 73.30% decrease in room with bamboo palm. The suspended particulate matter after 4th week in control room increased by 70.92% but in room with spider plant it reduced by 50.02% trailed by 32.71% decrease in room with rubber plant. Volatile organic compound decreased in room with spider plant (63.41%), room with rubber plant (51.85%), room with bamboo palm(72.73%), room with snake plant(64.04%). The amount of light was less than recommended light in all experimental rooms. The relative humidity was increased in room with plants in comparison with control room, and relative humidity was higher than the recommended value. The temperature was increased according to the environmental change because the days were becoming warmer.ThesisItem Open Access Indoor climate assessment of kindergarten schools(CCSHAU, 2019) Bura, Ritu; Kiran SinghKindergarten schools accommodate children aged 3–6 for about 5–8 h daily, which make them the next most time-spent indoor environment after homes. The study entitled, ―Indoor Climate Assessment of Kindergarten Schools‖ was conducted by covering the Hisar district for checking the different environmental parameters viz. temperature, light, humidity, air quality, acoustics and formaldehyde affecting health of the students/respondents. Ten kindergarten schools were purposively selected from Hisar, out of which five schools selected were from the area near to main road/industry and the remaining five schools selected were with closer vicinity to green/calm settings. Results depicts that outdoor pollution also have effects on the indoor pollution of the school. Schools near main road/industry were found to be more polluted than the schools with closer vicinity to greener/calmer settings. Finally two of the schools with environmental parameters not upto the recommended standards were selected for further carrying out the study and determining the health problems among the students. Temperature during morning in all the schools was below recommended standards. In the afternoon, temperature of S-4(25°C) was above recommended standards and in the other schools it was within recommended range. All the schools were having formaldehyde values below the recommended standard except for the data of morning of S-6 (0.09mg/m3) and in afternoon (0.08mg/m3) which was within the recommended range. Lighting of schools had high significance relationship with headache (48.3%) and low vision (59.4%) among students. Temperature had high significance with cough/cold/running nose (42.3%), abdominal pain (49.8%), headache (42.1%) and skin problems (52.0%) among students. Also area of residence (0.549*) of the respondents were found to have high significance with health problems. The data regarding the pre and post knowledge of the school staff members were found to be significant after the intervention program.ThesisItem Open Access Assessment of biomechanical stress in dung collection among rural women(CCSHAU, 2018) Sarita Devi; Mehta, ManjuThe rural women play an important role in all types of household, farm and allied activities but were deprived from most of the privileges of life. There is no change in involvement pattern of women in household and animal husbandry activities in respect to change in season. The study was conducted in randomly selected one block I of Hisar district of Haryana state. From the selected block I, Dabra village was randomly selected as the locale of the study. Ninety households were selected randomly and female head of the household was the sample of the study. A sample of 20 women, who were willing to cooperate were selected purposively for phase III. It was found that maximum of them were in the age group of 41-60 yr (56.7%), belonged to general category (91.1%), were illiterate (62.2%), farming was family occupation (62.2%), had low family education status (46.7%) and nuclear families (57.8%) with medium size family (46.7%). They had pakka house (68.9%) with covered kitchen (66.7%). Most of them had less than 2.5 acre of land (40.0%) and earned between Rs.10,000- 30,000 (68.9%). Majority of respondents were having buffalo (54.5%) which was kept bada (71.1%) of size upto 100sq.m. dung was collected by 90% of home maker and other female twice a day (82.2%) and they prepared dung cake (91.1%) to save money and were using Tasla & Indi for dung collection, respondents covered distance around 750 mt for dung transportation. 43.3% of women carried 10-20 kg dung per trip and spending 1-2 hr. Most of the women were exhausted after dung collection activity (83%). 18 percent felt pain in mid back and lower back and recovery of pain was in around 15 min (64.1%). Around one third was anemic (31.4%) and having joint problem (23.5%). In dung collection activity back bending posture, in lifting and carrying activity both hand and in disposal of dung neck bending posture using both hands was used by all. During collection and carrying of dung distance of 293.21m and 523.22 m. was travelled and carried dung weighing 17.6 kg. A slight extension was observed in the lower lumbar region (3.27%) and flexion in the cervical region (2.79%) of the respondents, putting undue stress on the women. Rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) score and Ovako working posture analysis system (OWAS) score was highest in collection activity which depicts it required corrective measures immediately in the posture used. There was decrease grip strength of 23.65 percent and 18.59 percent in right the left hand respectively. Body part discomfort (BPDS) was chiefly found in upper and lower back (4.44 each) followed by mid back (4) and least in knees (1.33). The activity of carrying dung got VAD score of (4.5) and least was for the disposal of dung activity (2.3) and repetitive strain score was highest in dung collection activity i.e.10 and least in disposal i.e.2.3. Hence as per the phase II, collection activity had highest biomechanical stress so a tool was developed to combat biomechanical stress in dung collection. The tool was named as Ergo Dung Collector. There was 23.05% decrease in biomechanical stress with the use of ergo dung collector. Ergo dung collector was acceptable and found to be highly feasible in handling and also physically compatible practicable and cultural compatible.