International Journal of Agricultural Engineering

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Perspective of the Study of Occupational Safety Issues and Hazards for the Agricultural Workers:A Survey


Affiliations
1 Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad (U.P.), India
     

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The agricultural sector is at the heart of rural India and continues to be a major contributor to the local and national economy. Those at the centre of this industry are farm families who represent 97% of the farming population. Engineering and technology have had both positive and negative consequences on humankind and the environment. Agriculture is not a safe occupation. Agricultural workers face a large number of health problems in the form of physical factors like extreme weather conditions, sunrays, etc.; chemical, toxicological hazards in the form of pesticides/fertilizers, etc. Many of which arise from their work. Clinically well recognized group of occupationally acquired health problems may be respiratory, dermatological, traumatic, poisoning and neoplastic in nature. Prevalence of some specific zoonotic diseases and behavioural health problems are also found to be more among them. Farming is as much a job as it is a way of life, an identity and a social representation for many. This identity has, however, in recent years been constantly threatened by yearly rises in farm accidents and fluctuations in farm deaths which climaxed in 2015 with more than 3000 people losing their lives and thousands of farmers injured during farming daily on Indian farms. Not only did 3000 families lose loved ones, whole communities and regions have been adversely affected by these deaths which have far ranging negative influence on the sustainability of rural areas and use of technology. Unfortunately one does not have to go far from the farm gate to find a farmer who has been severely disabled or injured as a result of a farm accident and often at times less further to the place of a farm death as farm accidents are so frequently fatal. In this paper we are going to preliminary research on the study of occupational safety issues and hazards for the agricultural workers in farming sector in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India and proposed a research model to study on the effect of innovation in farm technology on the health of the farm workers, various hazardous sector of agriculture and their effect on the farm workers.

Keywords

Farm Technology, Occupational Safety, Hazardous Sector of Agriculture.
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  • Perspective of the Study of Occupational Safety Issues and Hazards for the Agricultural Workers:A Survey

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Authors

Sumit Kumar
Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad (U.P.), India
Ashok Tripathi
Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad (U.P.), India
Surendra Pal
Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad (U.P.), India
Prashant D’Souza
Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad (U.P.), India

Abstract


The agricultural sector is at the heart of rural India and continues to be a major contributor to the local and national economy. Those at the centre of this industry are farm families who represent 97% of the farming population. Engineering and technology have had both positive and negative consequences on humankind and the environment. Agriculture is not a safe occupation. Agricultural workers face a large number of health problems in the form of physical factors like extreme weather conditions, sunrays, etc.; chemical, toxicological hazards in the form of pesticides/fertilizers, etc. Many of which arise from their work. Clinically well recognized group of occupationally acquired health problems may be respiratory, dermatological, traumatic, poisoning and neoplastic in nature. Prevalence of some specific zoonotic diseases and behavioural health problems are also found to be more among them. Farming is as much a job as it is a way of life, an identity and a social representation for many. This identity has, however, in recent years been constantly threatened by yearly rises in farm accidents and fluctuations in farm deaths which climaxed in 2015 with more than 3000 people losing their lives and thousands of farmers injured during farming daily on Indian farms. Not only did 3000 families lose loved ones, whole communities and regions have been adversely affected by these deaths which have far ranging negative influence on the sustainability of rural areas and use of technology. Unfortunately one does not have to go far from the farm gate to find a farmer who has been severely disabled or injured as a result of a farm accident and often at times less further to the place of a farm death as farm accidents are so frequently fatal. In this paper we are going to preliminary research on the study of occupational safety issues and hazards for the agricultural workers in farming sector in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India and proposed a research model to study on the effect of innovation in farm technology on the health of the farm workers, various hazardous sector of agriculture and their effect on the farm workers.

Keywords


Farm Technology, Occupational Safety, Hazardous Sector of Agriculture.

References