A study on the assessment of occupational health hazards among cobblers
| dc.contributor.advisor | Vats, Aditi | |
| dc.contributor.author | Pandey, Deepika | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2020-07-22T07:27:37Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2020-07-22T07:27:37Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2020-02 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Among the various categories of unorganized sector, there exists a class of craftsman who specializes in repairing of footwears, known as cobblers. The repairing works carried out by cobblers include sewing and mending activities done using only hand operated tools. Various researches have shown that postures adopted during hand sewing tasks in different occupation possess a risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders. So, the present study was undertaken to know about the existing conditions of cobblers and to study the different risk factors in their working environment. The study was carried out purposively in Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand. For descriptive data, 100 samples were taken and 30 per cent of the respondents were selected for experimental study. The findings of the study revealed that maximum of the respondents were in 31-45 years of age group (44%), illiterate (32%), married (85%) and having 1-15 years of work experience (38%). For majority (75%) of the respondents, cobbling work was the family occupation and for 64 per cent, it was the only source of income. It was analyzed that 81 per cent of the respondents belonged to poor socioeconomic status. The different tasks carried out by respondents were polishing, stitching and repairing of shoes, slippers, bags, luggage, repairing of sole, chains, belts, umbrella, jackets etc. According to body mapping, the different identified pain/discomfort regions were neck (96%), shoulder (68%), upper back (64%), elbow (65%), lower back (100%), wrist/hand (69%), hips/thigh (42%), knee (47%) and ankle/feet (70%). For all the reported discomfort regions, majority of the respondents suffered from moderate intensity of pain/discomfort. Stiffness (50%), tingling sensation (56%), numbness (31%) and visual discomforts (58%) were the reported hazards caused due to adopted work postures. Skin allergy due to the use of polish/glue was found among 43 per cent. Respondents were in frequent risk of cut and piercing injuries (96%) due to the sharp and pointed tools. The analysis done using RULA and REBA revealed that the respondents were under high risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders due to the awkward postures adopted while carrying out task. A significant difference (p<0.05) was observed in the grip strength of left hand and right hand as well as in the pinch strength (p<0.05) for tip, palmer and lateral positions. Sensitization sessions were conducted to make the respondents aware about various health risk factors at workplace and various exercises to cope up with discomforts. This study suggests a workstation design (done using AutoCAD) for cobblers to provide them space which would help in reducing their discomforts and improving their workplace wellbeing. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810149612 | |
| dc.keywords | occupational health, health hazards, cobblers | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.pages | 178 | en_US |
| dc.publisher | G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand) | en_US |
| dc.research.problem | Cobblers | en_US |
| dc.sub | Family Resource Management | en_US |
| dc.theme | Occupational Health | en_US |
| dc.these.type | Ph.D | en_US |
| dc.title | A study on the assessment of occupational health hazards among cobblers | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |