Repetitive Strain and Discomfort Faced by the Floriculture Workers due to Working Environment
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Abstract
An inclusive growth both in terms of volume and value in flower production over the past decade creates more job opportunities for unskilled poor, especially for women who are poor, illiterate and mostly marginalized from other job opportunities in the floriculture sector. Repetitive movements for a longer period of time are more common in floriculture tasks that require manual dexterity. Farming of floriculture products is regarded as one of the most unsafe sectors, therefore, it is attracting considerable attention concerning to reduce work-related health hazards. Thus, the present study was undertaken with the objectives (i) To assess the working profile of floriculture workers (ii) To assess the repetitive strain and discomfort faced by the floriculture workers. Three districts of Haryana state were selected through random sampling technique and an interview schedule was developed to collect the data. Total sample size was 68 workers (29 male and 39 female workers). Results revealed that in flower picking activity maximum percentage (86.76%) of the respondents were involved as compared to the other activities in floriculture farms. The daily working hours of maximum respondents (66.17%) in floriculture units were 4-6 hours whereas 13.24 per cent of the respondents were working for 7-9 hours per day in floriculture units. The maximum discomfort was faced by the respondents during picking activity with a weighted mean score of 3.75 followed by storage and transportation activity having weighted mean score of 3.00, manuring activity having weighted mean score of 2.60, planting activity having weighted mean score of 2.58, packing activity having weighted mean score of 2.43, irrigation having weighted mean score of 2.17 and land preparation having weighted mean score of 2.00. The repetitive strain was maximum (WMS 3.34) for picking activity in Marigold farm units followed by packing (WMS 3.00), land preparation (WMS 3.10), planting (WMS 2.79), manuring (WMS 2.70) and irrigation (WMS 2.67).
