Occupational heat stress among farm workers and intervention to reduce ill effects
| dc.contributor.advisor | Sharma, Promila | |
| dc.contributor.author | Kesarwani, Kirti | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-10-10T09:21:16Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-10-10T09:21:16Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2017-10 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Agriculture is of paramount importance in most developing countries because large proportion of the population involved and the need to maintain national food production. It is generally accepted that health and productivity are positively correlated. This is of particular relevance especially in case of farm workers, as most of the farm activities are performed manually under extreme weather events in developing countries which are strenuous in nature. The farm workers are highly prone to adverse environmental condition due to their poor economic and educational status. The present study was undertaken in Jasra block of Allahabad District, Uttar Pradesh to find out the activity profile, source of hazards which influence severity towards heat stress, problems associated with heat stress, assessment of awareness, heat stress, fatigue, prevailing environmental conditions in which they work, and their adaptive behavior towards heat stress. A descriptive cum experimental research with the sample size of 180 farm workers those who are aged above 30 years and were working on the farm fields for minimum five years were chosen for the study. The sample was selected through purposive, convenient and simple random sampling technique. The data was collected during the selected months i.e. from March to June as the intensity of solar radiation are high during these months and due to heat farm workers undergo various potential hazards. The data was collected through personal interview technique. It was found that 56.7 per cent of the farm workers were the women and the rest were the males. The farm activities which were most commonly performed by the farm workers were seed bed preparation, sowing/transplanting and harvesting. Majority of the farm workers were performing the farm activities for more than 7 hours in all the three rotations. The squatting and bending posture was most prominent. Various sources of hazards were revealed which were influencing severity towards heat stress. Prevalence of various health problems among the farm workers was quite prominent during the selected months. The awareness level of the farm workers was found average but they found themselves helpless to cope with it. The farm workers in all the age groups were facing severe problems of heat stress and were seriously in the grip of fatigue. The MSDs were also reported by them. The environmental data reveals that for many days in April, May and June the maximum temperature of Allahabad was above 40 degree Celsius. While accomplishing the farm activities during these months they use to make many changes in their food habits, especially they use to increase their water intake and even incorporate several herbal coolants in their food diet. Though they try their best to cope up with the increasing temperature but its impact is rarely visible on their health and productivity. Hence there is a need to use PPE especially during April, May and June. These PPE will certainly help the farm workers to protect themselves from heat related illness and enhance their work capacity. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810080853 | |
| dc.keywords | heat stress, farm workers, health hazards | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.pages | 217 | en_US |
| dc.publisher | G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand) | en_US |
| dc.research.problem | Farm Workers | en_US |
| dc.sub | Family Resource Management | en_US |
| dc.theme | Heat Stress | en_US |
| dc.these.type | Ph.D | en_US |
| dc.title | Occupational heat stress among farm workers and intervention to reduce ill effects | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |