Banibrata Das - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Banibrata Das
The authors express their sincere gratitude to all those female prawn seed collectors and the con... more The authors express their sincere gratitude to all those female prawn seed collectors and the control subjects who rendered immense co-operation during the completion of this study.
Background: Children and preadolescent are universally considered to be the most important asset ... more Background: Children and preadolescent are universally considered to be the most important asset for any nation; hence their health and well-being are crucial. Malnutrition is the most common nutritional disorder in developing countries and it remains one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality among children and preadolescent worldwide. Objective: The main aim of the present study was to determine and compare the nutritional status of male and female preadolescent brickfield workers. This paper also focused on the socio-demographic as they affect the nutritional status of the male and female preadolescent brickfield workers. Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 116 brickfield workers (54 male and 62 female) from 12 Brickfields, working in a selected brick field unit of Bhadrakali in Hooghly District. A cross-sectional community-based descriptive study was conducted, to collect primary information from households using a scientific questionnaire...
International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics
Abstract The manual brick making process is a physically demanding job with a high risk of work-r... more Abstract The manual brick making process is a physically demanding job with a high risk of work-related injuries. Prevalence of work-related injuries (17.55%) occurs frequently in manual brick making activities due to inherently hazardous nature. This study analyzes 451 recordable incidents that occurred over a period of 7 years (2011–2017) among 220 male and 180 female workers in a different brickfield of West Bengal, India. The leading cause of brickfield injury was fall from heights, struck by objects, overexertion, lack of awareness, slippage of spade while mud collection etc. Carrying bricks and spading are two activities, in which the injuries occurred most among female and male brickfield workers respectively. Risk factors like MMH, prolonged working time, repetitiveness, awkward posture, lack of rotational task, overcrowded work, Lack of personal protective device, and lastly sleep disturbance and poor income are the key factor for work-related injuries. Sprain and strain, cut or laceration, abrasion, avulsion, and snake or insect bite are the main injuries among both groups of brickfield workers. Lower back and toes are the most affected parts of the body followed by ankle, feet, and hand. From this study, it was also observed that female brickfield workers are much more affected than male agricultural workers. The incident rate among male and female brickfield workers was 18.7 per 1000 workers per year and 21.2 per 1000 workers per year, respectively. So due to injuries in both groups of brickfield workers, their health, productivity and work performance were consequently affected.
Toxicology and Industrial Health
The main aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate work-related injuries (WRI) and the se... more The main aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate work-related injuries (WRI) and the self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms among 742 railway track maintainers. The second aim of this study was to investigate the potential factors related to the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in track maintainers. This study also tried to do planning and implementing ergonomic intervention programs to improve track maintainer’s health. Modified Nordic questionnaires were administered to assess the prevalence of MSDs. Detailed posture analysis by rapid entire body assessment (REBA) method was performed to assess the risk level of concerned postures. The injury data for 12 months were collected by conducting a survey and personal interviews with the affected railway track maintainers. To assess the prevalence of MSDs, the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval were computed along with critical χ 2 values. Analysis of variance was performed to determine significant differences...
Ergonomics International Journal
The study deals with the assessment of musculoskeletal disorder among the potato farmers in ridgi... more The study deals with the assessment of musculoskeletal disorder among the potato farmers in ridging activity and to implement new ergonomic aid for the betterment of job procedure and improvement of productivity, health and safety of the workers. Two hundred sixty two potato farmers were randomly selected from the villages of West Bengal, India, to evaluate musculoskeletal disorder. Modified Nordic questionnaire studies and discomfort level scale along with hand grip strength were assessed among the potato farmers before and after using the ergonomic aid in ridging activity. After implementing the newly designed ergonomic aid, a maximum decrease in discomfort feeling, especially at the wrist, hand and shoulder and at the lower back region of the body, is observed. Thus the application of ergonomic aid in ridging activity in potato cultivation has significantly increased the productivity of the workers by decreasing the absenteeism from work among both the groups of workers.
International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health
Background: Cognitive ergonomics relates with studies related to knowledge, knowledge acquisition... more Background: Cognitive ergonomics relates with studies related to knowledge, knowledge acquisition skills and other factors. In the modern days, the workers are exposed to a work, which demands cognitive skill along with physical ability. Objectives: Aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of physical exertion along with thermal stress on the cognitive performance among the adolescent farmers through. In the present study, cognitive performance was evaluated through physical exertion along with thermal stress among the adolescent farmers. This cross-sectional study was performed during 2017 -18 among the randomly selected 50 male and 50 female adolescent farmers from the various village of Hooghly District at West Bengal, India. Before conducting the study, legal guardian consent was taken. Prior permission and ethical approval was also obtained from local community leaders as well as relevant authorities before commencement of the study. The memory test or cognitive abi...
In India, particularly in Sunderban of West Bengal, collection of prawn seeds is one of the major... more In India, particularly in Sunderban of West Bengal, collection of prawn seeds is one of the major earning resources among prawn seed collectors. They are compelled to carry out a considerable amount of hard, manual, rigorous tasks in the river of the Sunderban area for collecting prawn seeds. They have to adopt some undesirable postures that may lead to the development of musculo skeletal disorder (MSD). The main aim of the present study is to investigate the prevalent postures adopted by the prawn seed collectors during individual prawn seed collection and to analyze the causation of discomfort feeling related with those postures. For this study, 21 male and 25 female prawn seed collectors were selected randomly and a detailed posture analysis was performed among them by means of OWAS method. It was observed that these workers worked continuously in awkward postures during certain prawn seed collection activity and consequently they suffered from discomfort feeling (pain) in differ...
Work
BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the major health hazards among farmers. Pre-adol... more BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the major health hazards among farmers. Pre-adolescents are mainly associated with agricultural work due to poor socioeconomic conditions. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to implement a new ergonomics aid for the betterment of job procedures and improvement of productivity, health, and safety of the preadolescent farmers. METHODS: 100 male and 100 female preadolescent farmers were randomly selected from the villages of Tarakeswar, West Bengal, India, to evaluate and reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders, physiological stress. Modified Nordic questionnaires, Body Part Discomfort (BPD) scale, and handgrip strength were assessed before and after using the ergonomics aid. RESULTS: The results of the study show that there was a significant change (decrease) in discomfort in the lower back, wrists, shoulder, and hands among preadolescent farmers when using the newly designed ergonomic aid. Handgrip strength increased and physiological s...
Toxicology and Industrial Health
Child labor is an infraction of fundamental human rights, and it prevents the children’s physical... more Child labor is an infraction of fundamental human rights, and it prevents the children’s physical, psychosocial, and psychological development. In India, children have been working in different unorganized sectors as paid laborers. Children were found performing a fair amount of manual, rigorous tasks in the brickfield industry due to socioeconomic disadvantages. Child brickfield workers suffered from musculoskeletal pain and injuries due to working with a heavy physical workload, which hampers the overall quality of life. A study had been conducted among these child brickfield laborers from India during 2011–2017. The study found laceration (38.7% male and 36.9% female) as the primary injury followed by sprain and strain, scratches, avulsion, and fractures among child brickfield workers. The study shows that child workers are highly prone to injuries, mainly toe (23.9% male and 28.1% female), hands (22.0% male and 23.4% female), wrists, feet, ankles, and fingers. The injury rate am...
Occupational Ergonomics
Seventy five rice cultivators and seventy five control subjects were selected randomly from the v... more Seventy five rice cultivators and seventy five control subjects were selected randomly from the villages of West Bengal, India, to evaluate musculoskeletal disorder, thermal stress, physiological stress among the rice cultivators. Modified Nordic questionnaire studies and posture analysis were performed among them by Ovako Working Posture Analyzing System. Thermal and physiological stresses were also assessed by measuring WBGT index and heart rates respectively. All of the subjects suffered discomfort at different parts of the body especially at lower back (99%), knee (91%), ankle (83%), feet regions (68%).The lung function values FVC (3.24), FEV1 (2.56), FEV1/FVC ratio (79.57), PEFR (412.0) of the rice farmers were much lower than the control group due to inhalation of dust particles in the rice fields. They also suffered from thermal (36°C) and physiological stress due to hazardous working condition and increased heart rates (148 beats/min). Thus their health and overall work perf...
International Health
Aims The purpose of this study was to describe the health hazards among child labourers in brickf... more Aims The purpose of this study was to describe the health hazards among child labourers in brickfields, and to assess occupational health problems, together with physiological and respiratory stress, compared with child control subjects. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 112 child brickfield workers and 120 control subjects, and a modified Nordic Questionnaire was applied to assess the discomfort felt among both groups of workers. Physiological assessment of the workload was carried out by the measurement of heart rate, blood pressure and spirometry of the workers. Results Child brickfield workers suffer from pain, especially in the lower back (97%), shoulder (88%), hands (82%), wrist (76%), neck (73%) and ankle (71%). The post-activity heart rate of the child brickfield workers was 166.5 beats/min, whereas the systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 132.2 and 67.2 mm/Hg, respectively. The forced vital capacity value of child brickfield workers was 2.04, and in th...
International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health
Introduction Agricultural injuries are an important factor in mortality and morbidity for populat... more Introduction Agricultural injuries are an important factor in mortality and morbidity for populations of preadolescents globally. Working preadolescents in agricultural sector are exposed to occupational risks and injury in India. Objective This study mainly assesses the nature of injuries among the preadolescent agricultural workers of West Bengal, India. Methods The survey was done by collecting the data on agricultural injuries from the Hooghly district of West Bengal. The injury data for 7 years between years 2010 and 2016 were collected by conducting a survey and personal interviews with the victims. The questionnaire-based approach was used for data collection information on the injury characteristics. Results The agricultural injury incident rate was 8.99 (male) and 7.89 (female) per 1000 workers/year. The leading causes of farm injuries were hand tools (65.7%). The most frequently involved tools were spades and sickles. The main cause of hand tool injuries was repetitive wor...
IJASS(International Journal of Applied Sports Sciences)
Physical Fitness Index (PFI) is considered an important and valuable parameter in the field of sp... more Physical Fitness Index (PFI) is considered an important and valuable parameter in the field of sports and exercise science. The main aim of this study is to assess and compare the physical fitness and cardio respiratory fitness in terms of maximum aerobic capacity (VO2max) ...
Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health
Industrial Psychiatry Journal, Jul 1, 2011
It is important to understand what motivates workers and the extent to which the organization and... more It is important to understand what motivates workers and the extent to which the organization and other contextual variables satisfy them. The aim of the study was to determine factors of dissatisfaction resulting from the organizational culture among the blacksmiths involved in the surgical instrument industry. Fifty male surgical blacksmiths each of the skilled and unskilled groups of the forging section were selected. Organizational Role Stress Scale was used to measure the individuals' role stress and several forms of conflict within an organization. Also, the organizational culture and personal involvement in an organization was measured among the surgical blacksmiths. The mean score for total role stress for Skilled was 71.7 and for unskilled was 77.2. The most frequent type of organizational culture was reported to be hierarchy, both by skilled and unskilled surgical blacksmiths, followed by market and clan culture. This study shows that the skilled surgical blacksmiths have lower level of stress and conflicts in comparison with unskilled surgical blacksmiths. Both skilled and unskilled surgical blacksmiths estimated their level of personal involvement as low and indicated insufficient involvement in work teams. The satisfaction of the employees with their status and role in the organizational culture was also poor for both skilled and unskilled surgical blacksmiths.
Indian Pediatrics, Jun 7, 2011
This study was conducted to evaluate Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) in different groups of work... more This study was conducted to evaluate Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) in different groups of working children. Study population comprises of 300 child workers, 100 in each group (agricultural workers, constructional workers, control group or domestic workers with equal sex, age and socioeconomic distribution). PEFR value was lowest among construction workers. PEFR values of all subjects had a linear relationship with age, weight, and height.
Journal of Human Ergology, Dec 1, 2013
The main aim of the study was to determine the nature and extent of work-related musculoskeletal ... more The main aim of the study was to determine the nature and extent of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and physiological and thermal working stress among the groundnut farmers. In the present investigation, eighty-five groundnut farmers were recruited from the villages of Tarakeswar of West Bengal, India. Eighty-five control office workers were also selected as a control group. The modified Nordic questionnaire and a posture analysis using the OWAS method were applied in the case of groundnut farmers. The working environment and physiological stress of the groundnut cultivators were also assessed. The analysis of working posture indicated that most of the groundnut cultivation activities needed corrective measures as soon as possible. Most of the groundnut farmers suffered from discomfort at different parts of the body, especially at the lower back (99%), knee (92%), ankle (66%), shoulder (61%) and hand (60%) regions. This study also showed that groundnut farmers suffered from excessive thermal (33.4 degrees C) and physiological stress (heart rate rose up to 121.5 beats/min, systolic and diastolic blood pressure up to 132 and 80 mm/Hg, respectively, PEFR values are 403 lit/min) which affects their health. From the observation and analysis of the results, it was concluded that the health of the groundnut farmers was highly affected by improper body postures and work-load. Twisting, bending, and awkward postures during work could lead to musculoskeletal disorders among them.
International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics Jose, 2005
The authors express their sincere gratitude to all those preadolescent agricultural workers for t... more The authors express their sincere gratitude to all those preadolescent agricultural workers for their immense cooperation during this study. Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to Somnath Gangopadhyay,
The authors express their sincere gratitude to all those female prawn seed collectors and the con... more The authors express their sincere gratitude to all those female prawn seed collectors and the control subjects who rendered immense co-operation during the completion of this study.
Background: Children and preadolescent are universally considered to be the most important asset ... more Background: Children and preadolescent are universally considered to be the most important asset for any nation; hence their health and well-being are crucial. Malnutrition is the most common nutritional disorder in developing countries and it remains one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality among children and preadolescent worldwide. Objective: The main aim of the present study was to determine and compare the nutritional status of male and female preadolescent brickfield workers. This paper also focused on the socio-demographic as they affect the nutritional status of the male and female preadolescent brickfield workers. Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 116 brickfield workers (54 male and 62 female) from 12 Brickfields, working in a selected brick field unit of Bhadrakali in Hooghly District. A cross-sectional community-based descriptive study was conducted, to collect primary information from households using a scientific questionnaire...
International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics
Abstract The manual brick making process is a physically demanding job with a high risk of work-r... more Abstract The manual brick making process is a physically demanding job with a high risk of work-related injuries. Prevalence of work-related injuries (17.55%) occurs frequently in manual brick making activities due to inherently hazardous nature. This study analyzes 451 recordable incidents that occurred over a period of 7 years (2011–2017) among 220 male and 180 female workers in a different brickfield of West Bengal, India. The leading cause of brickfield injury was fall from heights, struck by objects, overexertion, lack of awareness, slippage of spade while mud collection etc. Carrying bricks and spading are two activities, in which the injuries occurred most among female and male brickfield workers respectively. Risk factors like MMH, prolonged working time, repetitiveness, awkward posture, lack of rotational task, overcrowded work, Lack of personal protective device, and lastly sleep disturbance and poor income are the key factor for work-related injuries. Sprain and strain, cut or laceration, abrasion, avulsion, and snake or insect bite are the main injuries among both groups of brickfield workers. Lower back and toes are the most affected parts of the body followed by ankle, feet, and hand. From this study, it was also observed that female brickfield workers are much more affected than male agricultural workers. The incident rate among male and female brickfield workers was 18.7 per 1000 workers per year and 21.2 per 1000 workers per year, respectively. So due to injuries in both groups of brickfield workers, their health, productivity and work performance were consequently affected.
Toxicology and Industrial Health
The main aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate work-related injuries (WRI) and the se... more The main aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate work-related injuries (WRI) and the self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms among 742 railway track maintainers. The second aim of this study was to investigate the potential factors related to the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in track maintainers. This study also tried to do planning and implementing ergonomic intervention programs to improve track maintainer’s health. Modified Nordic questionnaires were administered to assess the prevalence of MSDs. Detailed posture analysis by rapid entire body assessment (REBA) method was performed to assess the risk level of concerned postures. The injury data for 12 months were collected by conducting a survey and personal interviews with the affected railway track maintainers. To assess the prevalence of MSDs, the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval were computed along with critical χ 2 values. Analysis of variance was performed to determine significant differences...
Ergonomics International Journal
The study deals with the assessment of musculoskeletal disorder among the potato farmers in ridgi... more The study deals with the assessment of musculoskeletal disorder among the potato farmers in ridging activity and to implement new ergonomic aid for the betterment of job procedure and improvement of productivity, health and safety of the workers. Two hundred sixty two potato farmers were randomly selected from the villages of West Bengal, India, to evaluate musculoskeletal disorder. Modified Nordic questionnaire studies and discomfort level scale along with hand grip strength were assessed among the potato farmers before and after using the ergonomic aid in ridging activity. After implementing the newly designed ergonomic aid, a maximum decrease in discomfort feeling, especially at the wrist, hand and shoulder and at the lower back region of the body, is observed. Thus the application of ergonomic aid in ridging activity in potato cultivation has significantly increased the productivity of the workers by decreasing the absenteeism from work among both the groups of workers.
International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health
Background: Cognitive ergonomics relates with studies related to knowledge, knowledge acquisition... more Background: Cognitive ergonomics relates with studies related to knowledge, knowledge acquisition skills and other factors. In the modern days, the workers are exposed to a work, which demands cognitive skill along with physical ability. Objectives: Aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of physical exertion along with thermal stress on the cognitive performance among the adolescent farmers through. In the present study, cognitive performance was evaluated through physical exertion along with thermal stress among the adolescent farmers. This cross-sectional study was performed during 2017 -18 among the randomly selected 50 male and 50 female adolescent farmers from the various village of Hooghly District at West Bengal, India. Before conducting the study, legal guardian consent was taken. Prior permission and ethical approval was also obtained from local community leaders as well as relevant authorities before commencement of the study. The memory test or cognitive abi...
In India, particularly in Sunderban of West Bengal, collection of prawn seeds is one of the major... more In India, particularly in Sunderban of West Bengal, collection of prawn seeds is one of the major earning resources among prawn seed collectors. They are compelled to carry out a considerable amount of hard, manual, rigorous tasks in the river of the Sunderban area for collecting prawn seeds. They have to adopt some undesirable postures that may lead to the development of musculo skeletal disorder (MSD). The main aim of the present study is to investigate the prevalent postures adopted by the prawn seed collectors during individual prawn seed collection and to analyze the causation of discomfort feeling related with those postures. For this study, 21 male and 25 female prawn seed collectors were selected randomly and a detailed posture analysis was performed among them by means of OWAS method. It was observed that these workers worked continuously in awkward postures during certain prawn seed collection activity and consequently they suffered from discomfort feeling (pain) in differ...
Work
BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the major health hazards among farmers. Pre-adol... more BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the major health hazards among farmers. Pre-adolescents are mainly associated with agricultural work due to poor socioeconomic conditions. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to implement a new ergonomics aid for the betterment of job procedures and improvement of productivity, health, and safety of the preadolescent farmers. METHODS: 100 male and 100 female preadolescent farmers were randomly selected from the villages of Tarakeswar, West Bengal, India, to evaluate and reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders, physiological stress. Modified Nordic questionnaires, Body Part Discomfort (BPD) scale, and handgrip strength were assessed before and after using the ergonomics aid. RESULTS: The results of the study show that there was a significant change (decrease) in discomfort in the lower back, wrists, shoulder, and hands among preadolescent farmers when using the newly designed ergonomic aid. Handgrip strength increased and physiological s...
Toxicology and Industrial Health
Child labor is an infraction of fundamental human rights, and it prevents the children’s physical... more Child labor is an infraction of fundamental human rights, and it prevents the children’s physical, psychosocial, and psychological development. In India, children have been working in different unorganized sectors as paid laborers. Children were found performing a fair amount of manual, rigorous tasks in the brickfield industry due to socioeconomic disadvantages. Child brickfield workers suffered from musculoskeletal pain and injuries due to working with a heavy physical workload, which hampers the overall quality of life. A study had been conducted among these child brickfield laborers from India during 2011–2017. The study found laceration (38.7% male and 36.9% female) as the primary injury followed by sprain and strain, scratches, avulsion, and fractures among child brickfield workers. The study shows that child workers are highly prone to injuries, mainly toe (23.9% male and 28.1% female), hands (22.0% male and 23.4% female), wrists, feet, ankles, and fingers. The injury rate am...
Occupational Ergonomics
Seventy five rice cultivators and seventy five control subjects were selected randomly from the v... more Seventy five rice cultivators and seventy five control subjects were selected randomly from the villages of West Bengal, India, to evaluate musculoskeletal disorder, thermal stress, physiological stress among the rice cultivators. Modified Nordic questionnaire studies and posture analysis were performed among them by Ovako Working Posture Analyzing System. Thermal and physiological stresses were also assessed by measuring WBGT index and heart rates respectively. All of the subjects suffered discomfort at different parts of the body especially at lower back (99%), knee (91%), ankle (83%), feet regions (68%).The lung function values FVC (3.24), FEV1 (2.56), FEV1/FVC ratio (79.57), PEFR (412.0) of the rice farmers were much lower than the control group due to inhalation of dust particles in the rice fields. They also suffered from thermal (36°C) and physiological stress due to hazardous working condition and increased heart rates (148 beats/min). Thus their health and overall work perf...
International Health
Aims The purpose of this study was to describe the health hazards among child labourers in brickf... more Aims The purpose of this study was to describe the health hazards among child labourers in brickfields, and to assess occupational health problems, together with physiological and respiratory stress, compared with child control subjects. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 112 child brickfield workers and 120 control subjects, and a modified Nordic Questionnaire was applied to assess the discomfort felt among both groups of workers. Physiological assessment of the workload was carried out by the measurement of heart rate, blood pressure and spirometry of the workers. Results Child brickfield workers suffer from pain, especially in the lower back (97%), shoulder (88%), hands (82%), wrist (76%), neck (73%) and ankle (71%). The post-activity heart rate of the child brickfield workers was 166.5 beats/min, whereas the systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 132.2 and 67.2 mm/Hg, respectively. The forced vital capacity value of child brickfield workers was 2.04, and in th...
International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health
Introduction Agricultural injuries are an important factor in mortality and morbidity for populat... more Introduction Agricultural injuries are an important factor in mortality and morbidity for populations of preadolescents globally. Working preadolescents in agricultural sector are exposed to occupational risks and injury in India. Objective This study mainly assesses the nature of injuries among the preadolescent agricultural workers of West Bengal, India. Methods The survey was done by collecting the data on agricultural injuries from the Hooghly district of West Bengal. The injury data for 7 years between years 2010 and 2016 were collected by conducting a survey and personal interviews with the victims. The questionnaire-based approach was used for data collection information on the injury characteristics. Results The agricultural injury incident rate was 8.99 (male) and 7.89 (female) per 1000 workers/year. The leading causes of farm injuries were hand tools (65.7%). The most frequently involved tools were spades and sickles. The main cause of hand tool injuries was repetitive wor...
IJASS(International Journal of Applied Sports Sciences)
Physical Fitness Index (PFI) is considered an important and valuable parameter in the field of sp... more Physical Fitness Index (PFI) is considered an important and valuable parameter in the field of sports and exercise science. The main aim of this study is to assess and compare the physical fitness and cardio respiratory fitness in terms of maximum aerobic capacity (VO2max) ...
Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health
Industrial Psychiatry Journal, Jul 1, 2011
It is important to understand what motivates workers and the extent to which the organization and... more It is important to understand what motivates workers and the extent to which the organization and other contextual variables satisfy them. The aim of the study was to determine factors of dissatisfaction resulting from the organizational culture among the blacksmiths involved in the surgical instrument industry. Fifty male surgical blacksmiths each of the skilled and unskilled groups of the forging section were selected. Organizational Role Stress Scale was used to measure the individuals' role stress and several forms of conflict within an organization. Also, the organizational culture and personal involvement in an organization was measured among the surgical blacksmiths. The mean score for total role stress for Skilled was 71.7 and for unskilled was 77.2. The most frequent type of organizational culture was reported to be hierarchy, both by skilled and unskilled surgical blacksmiths, followed by market and clan culture. This study shows that the skilled surgical blacksmiths have lower level of stress and conflicts in comparison with unskilled surgical blacksmiths. Both skilled and unskilled surgical blacksmiths estimated their level of personal involvement as low and indicated insufficient involvement in work teams. The satisfaction of the employees with their status and role in the organizational culture was also poor for both skilled and unskilled surgical blacksmiths.
Indian Pediatrics, Jun 7, 2011
This study was conducted to evaluate Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) in different groups of work... more This study was conducted to evaluate Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) in different groups of working children. Study population comprises of 300 child workers, 100 in each group (agricultural workers, constructional workers, control group or domestic workers with equal sex, age and socioeconomic distribution). PEFR value was lowest among construction workers. PEFR values of all subjects had a linear relationship with age, weight, and height.
Journal of Human Ergology, Dec 1, 2013
The main aim of the study was to determine the nature and extent of work-related musculoskeletal ... more The main aim of the study was to determine the nature and extent of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and physiological and thermal working stress among the groundnut farmers. In the present investigation, eighty-five groundnut farmers were recruited from the villages of Tarakeswar of West Bengal, India. Eighty-five control office workers were also selected as a control group. The modified Nordic questionnaire and a posture analysis using the OWAS method were applied in the case of groundnut farmers. The working environment and physiological stress of the groundnut cultivators were also assessed. The analysis of working posture indicated that most of the groundnut cultivation activities needed corrective measures as soon as possible. Most of the groundnut farmers suffered from discomfort at different parts of the body, especially at the lower back (99%), knee (92%), ankle (66%), shoulder (61%) and hand (60%) regions. This study also showed that groundnut farmers suffered from excessive thermal (33.4 degrees C) and physiological stress (heart rate rose up to 121.5 beats/min, systolic and diastolic blood pressure up to 132 and 80 mm/Hg, respectively, PEFR values are 403 lit/min) which affects their health. From the observation and analysis of the results, it was concluded that the health of the groundnut farmers was highly affected by improper body postures and work-load. Twisting, bending, and awkward postures during work could lead to musculoskeletal disorders among them.
International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics Jose, 2005
The authors express their sincere gratitude to all those preadolescent agricultural workers for t... more The authors express their sincere gratitude to all those preadolescent agricultural workers for their immense cooperation during this study. Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to Somnath Gangopadhyay,