ERGONOMIC INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE WORK ENVIRONMENT IN DURRIE WEAVING UNITS
Loading...
Date
2019
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PROFESSOR JAYASHANKAR TELANGANA STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
Abstract
Handloom industry is decentralized or unorganized sector and domestic oriented. In India, about 1.30 per cent of the households were engaged in durrie making. Durrie weaving is one of the oldest industries in India and unorganized in nature. A durrie is a smooth, hard, pileless, woven cotton fabric. Durries are produced in almost every state in India like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, MP, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, UP, and West Bengal.
Durrie weaving involves activities like dyeing, yarn winding, warping, setting the warp on the loom, weaving and finishing. Only female workers were involved in yarn winding and finishing. Dyeing was done by male workers and other activities were carried by both genders. Weavers work for long hours in a very small space with minimum ventilation and low lighting levels with awkward postures. Weaving and allied activities are high risk activities and causes musculoskeletal disorders. Therefore the main aim of this investigation was to explore the musculoskeletal issues, postural discomforts and work environment of weavers involved in durrie weaving, to analyze the relationship between work process, work environment and the musculoskeletal issues, to identify the ergonomic needs of weavers and formulating suitable interventions and to study the effect of the interventions on weaver’s performance and occupational health.
Study was conducted in Kothawada, Warangal (Urban) district, Telangana. A total of 120 weavers were selected as respondents. An exploratory study was conducted to measure the musculoskeletal discomforts, postural discomforts and visual strain. An experimental study was conducted on a 30 sub sample drawn from the surveyed sample
vii
to gather information on work environment viz., air quality, temperature, noise, light, weavers health viz., grip strength and lung functioning capacity. Based on the needs of the weavers the interventions like reed frame handle, soft handle ratch, shears, moveable tray and exercises were developed to overcome visual strain and body pain. Interventions were evaluated with 12 respondents for its satisfaction and comfort.
General information shown that most of the weavers were men and age of the weavers ranged between 29-51 years. Majority (69%) of the weavers were educated and nearly 31 per cent weavers were illiterate. Most of the weavers belonged to a small family. Monthly income of the weavers between the range of Rs. 3000-6000. Most of the weavers were having membership. Majority of the weavers were getting financial assistance from the government and saving the money under Thrift savings and security scheme. Majority of the weavers were having normal body weight and mesomorph body type.
Regarding work details of weavers around 61 per cent of the weavers worked for 6 to 8 hours/day. Nearly 41 per cent of the weavers worked for 21-25 days/month and most of the weavers were having more than 25 years of experience. Three-fourth of the weavers were working as a wage workers. Mostly plain durrie was produced and considerable amount of ikat, shantranji, prayer rugs were also produced. Dyeing and winding activities were mainly done by wage workers and rest of the activities viz., warping, threading the heddles, threading the reed, warp setting and weaving were carried out by the weavers.
Majority of the respondents reported muscle pain/discomfort and breathlessness. Most the weavers reported pain in neck, shoulder, lower back and ankles/feet. Regarding visual strain and symptoms tired eyes, head ache, difficulty in focusing a distance, impaired visual performance, eye pain, blurred vision, eye irritation and itching were highly prevalent.
Most of the weaver’s working posture has to be changed and need further investigation and the risk of upper distal extremity disorders was high among the weavers. Weavers were having severe problem in expiratory flow rate of lungs and develop breathing problems.
Regarding environmental conditions, weavers were working in low lighting. Noise level was within the permissible limit. Both particulate matter PM10 and PM2.5 was measured and found that particulate matter was not exceeding the permissible limit.
Majority of the weaving workshops required changes in work station and demands further investigation about the ergonomics of weaving workshops.
Ergonomic interventions namely reed frame handle, ratch with soft handle, shears and moveable trays were designed and implemented in the weaving workshops. To overcome the visual and body pain ergonomic education booklet was developed and weavers were asked to practice the exercises as per given protocol.
Weavers opined that the designed tools were well fitted to the hands, lightweight, easy to operate and helped to maintain comfortable postures. Respondents reported that exercises helped to overcome the visual strain and musculoskeletal pain/ discomfort.
Description
Keywords
Citation
D10,609