Health and Safety Issues of Industry Workmen
Abstract
Flour milling is considered the oldest trade industry, initiated at least 6000 years ago. Like every other industry, numerous problems arise during functioning and maintenance operations. The production process involves the breakdown of grains to separate their outer covering and inner endosperm grinding to fine flour particles. Workers serving in the industry have been in an environment exposed to flour dust. After conducting several interviews and a questionnaire survey to the workers and sales managers of flour mills within Hyderabad in Pakistan, the workforce was found to be suffering from sensitization, occupational asthma, allergic rhinitis, obstructive lung diseases and eye infection. The core reason was the inhaled and swallowed flour dust. The majority of the respondents highlighted improper flour milling process including intake and final product collection systems as the main causes of these health problems. The other part of the research work revealed that the majority of safety issues emerged due to the unavailability, the failure to use and the unawareness of personal protective equipment. Regarding the suggestions received during the survey from respective stakeholders, the health and safety issues can be controlled by improving feeding and collection systems and by wearing personal protective equipment.
Keywords:
flour milling industry, health issues, personal protective equipment, safety concernsDownloads
References
N. D. Wagh, B. G. Pachpande, V. S. Patel, S. B. Attarde, S. T. Ingle, “The influence of workplace environment on lung function of flour mill workers in Jalgaon urban center”, Journal of Occupational Health, Vol. 48, No. 5, pp. 396-401, 2006 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1539/joh.48.396
N. A. H. Ajeel, A. K. Al-Yassen, “Work-related allergic disorders among flour mill workers”, The Medical Journal of Basrah University, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 29-32, 2007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.33762/mjbu.2007.48127
S. K. Dhillon, R. Bassi, R. G. Thamman, “Effect of flour dust on lung volumes and capacities in flour mill workers”, National Journal of Integrated Research in Medicine, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 91-95, 2012
M. Mittal, “Explosion Hazard and Safety in Industries Handling Grain Products”, Journal of Engineering Research and Studies, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 1-11, 2013
A. B. Bohadana, N. Massin, P. Wild, M. N. Kolopp, J. P. Toamain, “Respiratory symptoms and airway responsiveness in apparently healthy workers exposed to flour dust”, The European Respiratory Journal, Vol. 7, No. 6, pp. 1070-1076, 1994
T. A. Smith, G. Parker, T. Hussain, “Respiratory symptoms and wheat flour exposure: a study of flour millers”, Occupational Medicine, Vol. 50. No. 1, pp. 25-29, 2000 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/50.1.25
A. M. Said, E. B. Abdel Fattah, A. A. M. Almawardi, “Effects on respiratory system due to exposure to wheat flour”, Egyptian Journal of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis, Vol. 66, No. 3, pp. 537-548, 2017 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejcdt.2016.11.006
M. A. Mohammadien, M. T. Hussein, R. T. El-Sokkary, “Effects of exposure to flour dust on respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function of mill workers”, Egyptian Journal of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis, Vol. 62, Vol. 4, pp. 745-753, 2013 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejcdt.2013.09.007
R. C. Oginyi, O. S. Mbam, C. O. Abojei, O. N. James, “Assessment of Occupational Health Hazard and the Use of Safety Measures among Rice Mill Workers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria”, World Applied Sciences Journal, Vol. 35, No. 7, pp. 1133-1141, 2017
R. Bardale, S. Dhawane, “Fatal avulsion of scalp: Unusual occurrence at flourmill”, Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 151-152, 2008
A. O. Inegbenebor, “The Effect of Accidents On The Productivity Of Some Companies In North-Eastern States Of Nigeria”, J. Soc. & Mgt. Sci, Vol. 6, pp. 46-52, 1999
B. Iftikhar, M. H. Khan, H. Hussain, M. Iqbal, G. S. Jadoon, “Relationship between silica dust exposure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in workers of dust generating industries of district Peshawar”, Gomal Journal of Medical Sciences, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 46-50, 2004
U.K. Office for National Statistics, Labour Force Survey 2017, available at: http://www.ilo.org/surveydata/index.php/catalog/1807/
study-description, 2017
HSE, A Baker's Dozen: Thirteen Essentials for Health and Safety in Bakeries, HSE Books, 2003
P. Cullinan, D. Lowson, M. J. Nieuwenhuijsen, C. Sandiford, R. D. Tee, K. M. Venables, J. C. McDonald, A. J. Newman Taylor, “Work related symptoms, sensitisation, and estimated exposure in workers not previously exposed to flour”, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 51, No. 9, pp. 579-583, 1994 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.51.9.579
G. M. Latha, K. Sarala, S. Gouroju, “Effect of Construction and Flour Mill Air Pollution in Rural Area”, International Journal of Integrative Medical Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 70-77, 2015 DOI: https://doi.org/10.16965/ijims.2015.104
J. M. Hussin, I. A. Rahman, A. H. Memon, “The way forward in sustainable construction: issues and challenges”, International Journal of Advances in Applied Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 15-24, 2013 DOI: https://doi.org/10.11591/ijaas.v2i1.1321
A. R. Khoso, M. A. Akhund, A. H. Memon, F. Siddiqui, S. H. Khahro, “Health and Safety of Hyderabad Industries’ Labor. Causes and Awareness”, Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, Vol. 7, No. 6, pp. 2334-2339, 2017 DOI: https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.1626
Downloads
How to Cite
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) after its publication in ETASR with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
