Occupational Related Health Problems of Workers in Ginning Mill

Cotton is one of the major cash crops grown in the country. India is the third largest producer of cotton after China and the United States. When cotton is harvested, it is transported to ginning mill for further process. A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibres, from their seeds. Ginning factories discharge large amounts of cotton dust, which leads to decreased pulmonary function in the exposed subjects. The present study was undertaken to study the occupational health hazards among the workers of ginning mill and to study the existing clothing practices of workers. The workers in ginning mill suffer from health problems like eye irritation, coughing, headache, hearing and breathing problems. All these health problems are caused due to inhalation of cotton fibres and dust in work place. In addition to these, hearing impairment among workers may be attributed to exposure of high level noise and also due to nonusage of any kind of functional clothing at work place. Hence, it is necessary to educate the workers regarding health hazards caused due to ginning operations. Further, there is a need to design and construct protective clothes for workers based on their needs and create awareness among the workers for usage of functional clothing.