TITLE:
Occupational Safety and Health among Carpet Factory Workers in a District of Nepal
AUTHORS:
Raj Kumar Subedi, Subin Banamala
KEYWORDS:
Carpet Factories, Health, Nepal, Occupation, Safety
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.2 No.9,
September
14,
2015
ABSTRACT: Occupational safety and health is a neglected area in small scale cottage
factories in Nepal. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 10 small scale
carpet factories in Bhaktapur district of Nepal among 100 workers to find out
their occupational health and safety status. The study revealed that majority
of the workers were females (57%) and more than half (52%) of the workers were
aged 20 - 30 years. The duration of work in a day ranged from 8 to 12 hours and
majority were weavers (58%). About three in four (77%) worked outside the
factory as well. None of them received health education at work and none of the
factories had medical treatment facilities and had only basic first aid treatment.
Similarly, 80% were not found to be using any personal protective equipment
(PPE) during work. A total of 90% workers regarded the dust control measures in
their factory as poor; 90% regarded ventilation as poor, 60% reported fire
management preparedness as poor; and 30% perceived the first aid treatment
services as poor. Majority of them (84%) said they had experienced some health
problems at work. The most commonly reported health problems were
backache/joint ache (63.1%), eye irritations (40.48%), prolonged headache
(40.48%), chest pain (38.1%), and skin irritation (23.81%). Only 27.38% of them
informed the authority after experiencing problems; 65.22% of those who
reported their problems received treatment. Interestingly, 10% said it was not
big deal to have health problems while working in the carpet factory. Further
comparative and analytical studies are recommended to explore the occupational
health status in small scale factories in Nepal.