ERGONOMIC EVALUATION OF WOMEN TEA PLUCKERS IN BISWANATH DISTRICT OF ASSAM
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Date
2021
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DRPCAU, PUSA
Abstract
Assam has developed to become the world's largest tea-producing province and India's largest tea-producing state. Tea accounts for 17% of the state's revenue. Assam is the name given to the characteristic black teas grown in India's largest tea-growing area. Tea production is important to India's economy, and it is the world's second largest employer. Assam is responsible for 55% of India's total tea production. The tea industry is a labor-intensive industry that employs a considerable number of women (approximately 52 percent of the total workforce) (Government of India, 2015). Women make up around half of the workforce in the Assam tea industry, which is notably prevalent in plucking and field labour. The delicate hands and quick fingers of women are more suited to plucking tea leaves, and this skill is a significant component of Assam's outstanding tea quality. Tea pickers must work in a range of climates and perilous scenarios while maintaining an uncomfortable static position. Females carry their work in typical casual postures, which leads to musculoskeletal disorders and, eventually, drudgery since they are oblivious to the cost of energy and other bodily exertion.
The study was conducted in the Biswanath district of Assam. The Biswanath Tea Company's Dekorai tea estate is one of the highest-quality tea-producing estates in the world. From a total of 612 women tea pluckers, 60 (sixty) respondents were chosen at random for the study's analysis. During the peak plucking season, all responders were chosen at random from the tea estate's workforce. The main purpose of the study was to ergonomically evaluate the tea plucking activity of the women tea pluckers and to provide suggestive measures for improving
the work efficiency. Keeping in view the objectives of the study, the primary data related to the respondents, tea production and plucking was gathered with the women with incorporating already designed personal interview schedule. The secondary data pertaining to anthropometric measurement of respondents, physiological problem was collected during the plucking activity.
The results of the study revealed that the socio-economic life of the women tea pluckers was woeful. Their monthly earning was not sufficient to meet all the needs of the members being in extended family type. Majority of the respondents were involved in the activity for more than thirty years which implicates that they are likely to develop work related musculoskeletal disorders. Increased rate of illiteracy resulted in the women respondents not being conscious about their rights and benefits. Lack of awareness was the root cause. Ache in the body, neck, head; pain in shoulder, hand and wrist; very severe level of discomfort in shoulder, hand/wrist and lower back were the problems reported by the respondents. The problem of blood pressure was noticed in majority of the respondents, mainly it was high in the respondents with high age group.
The Rapid Upper Limb Assessment urge the need for further investigation and changes to be done soon. The value of mean physiological cost of work was 6.01 bpm, mean energy expenditure was 6.87 kj/min. Z-test revealed the Z values for blood pressure and heart rate are 2.20 and 3.20, respectively. The majority of respondents exhibited average behaviour with regard to work-related, organisational, and familial factors. The physiological workload finding suggested that an age-related imbalance between physical workload and physical work capacity might lead to chronic overload, raising the risk of long-term health problems like musculoskeletal complaints and diseases.
Thus, there is a need to develop awareness, knowledge, and training programmes for improving working conditions and body posture, as well as ergonomic interventions, in order to reduce women's drudgery at work and increase productivity. Thus, by identifying the risk factors implementing ergonomics solutions should be planned for occupational setting considering the women workforce, and a new system must be developed comprising of work method redesign, work accessories design and rescheduling of activities. Necessary design intervention and ergonomic solutions were observed for the tea pluckers. A strict supervision system must be formulated to check their work habits.