ERGONOMICSGLASS BANGLE MAKING INDUSTRY

Presented by- Antara Paul Drishti Saraswat

Shreeti Sudeepta Mishra

ERGONOMICS• Scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among

humans and other elements of a system

WORK PLACE DESIGNAn arrangement in the workplace that has the objective of

overcoming employee alienation and job dissatisfaction that comes

about from mechanical and repetitive tasks in the workplace

ERGONOMICS STUDY ON-

GLASS BANGLE MAKING INDUSTRY

WHY ERGONOMICS

• To improve productivity, safety, and quality in manufacturing industries

• Some of the common problems of the small scale and unorganised

sector industries are improper workplace design, ill-structured jobs,

mismatch between workers abilities and job demands

WHY ERGONOMICS…

• They lead to workplace hazards, poor workers’ health, mechanical

equipment injuries, Work related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs)

and in turn reduce worker productivity and product/work quality

OVERVIEW OF THE INDUSTRY

• Glass Bangle making industry is

one of the most labor extensive

industries in India

• Firozabad is the main hub for this

industry employing upto four lakh

glass and bangle workers

OVERVIEW OF THE INDUSTRY…

The industry comprises of these basic steps of manufacturing-

• Coloring- Addition of metal and metal oxides with pigments and dyes as coloring agents

• Shaping- Giving the bangles spherical shapes with the help of traditional furnaces and silica sand

• Soldering the joints- Joining the two points of spherical bangle

OVERVIEW OF THE INDUSTRY…• Straightening and bending- Giving desired forms and shapes to

bangles

• Decorating of bangles- Different finishes like glittering, transparent finishes etc. are given to the bangles

WORKING CONDITIONS OF WORKERS

• filthy workplace with immense heat and harsh

sounds

• non-availability of work schedule

• no lunch break for the workers

• lack of safety gears for workers

• usage of outdated tools for labors working in

the furnace- prevailing in the factories

Each bangle passes through 70 to 80 hands

before it is ready for sale and each family or

production house is responsible for one stage

of bangle making.

WORKING CONDITIONS OF WORKERS…

• Working condition for women-labors, who are usually

employed in factories to clean the molten glass is even

worse

• Out of four lakh estimated workers only one lakh fall

under the category of organized worker

• Unorganized workers cannot access the benefit of

several central and state run social schemes

WORKING CONDITIONS OF WORKERS…

• No first aid facilities and primary medical services are provided in most

of the industries

• No proper arrangement of restrooms and urinals available

• According to a glass factory owner Shyam Babu, “There are only three

urinals and seven toilets in his factory where more than thousand labors

work 24x7; about 250 to 300 people work in single shift of eight hours”

PROBLEMS FACED40% of workers experienced maximum discomfort in the

lower lumbar region while 4% noted that their minimum

discomfort was in the forearm

•Skin burns, allergies and decline in vision is also very

common in these workers

PROBLEMS FACED…

• Chest and lungs disorders-They mostly suffer from tuberculosis or other fatal

infections of the lungs and chest.

• Heat Stroke-Heat stroke is the most serious of health problems associated with

working in hot environments

• Heat Exhaustion-Heat exhaustion includes several clinical disorders having

symptoms which may resemble the early symptoms of heat stroke

PROBLEMS FACED…• Fainting- A worker who is not accustomed to hot environments and who

stands erect and immobile in the heat may faint

• Heat Cramps- Heat cramps are painful spasms of the muscles that occur

among those who sweat profusely in heat, drink large quantities of water, but

do not adequately replace the body's salt loss

• Heat Rashes- Heat rash, also known as prickly heat, is likely to occur in hot

condition

Heating & rolling lacquer lump Colour of lacquer lump in bangle manufacturing Joining cylinders from lacquer lump

Sizing tender bangle against areference wooden cylinder

Fitting semi-precious jewels on tender bangles

Upper arm abduction & forward flexion

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

• Implementation of suitable engineering controls to reduce heat and

radiations

• Education and training to workers about sitting postures, hazards etc.

• Worker should use glasses for safety his eyes from excessive heat

• Instead of coal natural gas can be used as an alterative fuel

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT…

• An investment for safe and healthy behaviour among the workers,

factory owners and others

• Providing rest breaks between their sessions

• Switching over alternate jobs with in the organization can be

suggested

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT…

• Proper number of restrooms should be provided for male and female

workers in the workplace

• Proper arrangement of drinking water should be done for avoiding

heat cramps and heat strokes

CASE STUDY-I

EXPERIMENT

• The cardiac cost of work and recovery pulse rates were evaluated in 38 glass bangle

workers (mean age 27.8 years) exposed to radiant heat (46.2°C) and high ambient

temperature (38.2°C) for a mean period of 11.0 years in a glass bangle industry in

Firozabad was made

• A reference group of 15 controls (mean age 27.0 years), unexposed to occupational

heat stress served as a comparison

CASE STUDY-I

RESULTS

• The results showed that the pulse rate increased from a mean base value of 80.0

beats/min to 113.2 beats/min in the exposed workers while in the controls the increase

was negligible

• Thus the cardiac cost of work was found to be 33.2 beats/min, in the exposed group

which was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than 7.8 beats/min, observed in the control

group

CASE STUDY-I

• Among the exposed workers, ‘belanias’, who were engaged in the strenuous job of manually

rotating the iron roller in the Belan furnace so that the molten glass could be wound in a spiral

form, showed maximum increase in pulse rate (42.0 beats/min) over the work-shift followed by

‘muthias’ (31.1 beats/min) who were engaged in removing the glass spirals from the Belan

furnace

• However, wiremen (‘tarkashs’), who were engaged in highly skilled job of making very fine

threads of molten glass with the help of an iron roller, showed the smallest increase (19.5

beats/min) in pulse rate over the work-shift

CASE STUDY-I

CONCLUSION

• These findings suggest that the work practices in glass bangle industry need

revising to include a proper work-rest schedule to avoid circulatory strain in

excessive heat to which glass bangle workers are exposed

• Implementation of suitable engineering controls in order to reduce the level of

environmental heat and thermal radiation

CASE STUDY- II

• The objective of this study was to analyse the working postures of

workers engaged in various activities carried out in a glass bangle

making industry, by applying different postural analysis tools, and to

identify the various risk factors associated with Musculo skeletal

disorders

CASE STUDY- II…

• The study was carried out in glass bangle making industry situated in

northern Karnataka in India where thousands of workers are engaged

in these activities

• As it is an unorganized sector, no statistical data are available to date

as to the accident rates occurred, the number of people employed,

and other problems

CASE STUDY- II…

• The only means of these data were through conversations and direct

dialogue with the people associated with this profession

• Most of the work is manual, involving manual lifting and working

indicating that there was poor standing and lots of deviated wrist

positions, accompanied by forceful exertions which led to musculo

skeletal disorders

CASE STUDY- II…

METHODOLOGY

• Questionnaire and interview technique

• Direct observation and activity analysis

• Visual Analogue Scale

• Postural analysis

• Noise Assessment

CASE STUDY- II…RESULTS

• The survey was used for mapping the different areas of pain, the results also showed

that the discomfort frequency among the workers was frequently i.e. once a week for

almost 65% of the workers, and discomfort intensity of severe among 33% workers

and moderate among 47% and mild among the 20% workers, the duration of intensity

was observed to be within 1 to 24 hrs among 75-80% of the workers

CASE STUDY- II…

• Noise levels generated in operations have been reported to vary from

80dB up to 120dB

• It is well recognised in industry that noise is a serious problem with

cutting. One of the unique features of the noise associated with

bangle making industry is its intermittent nature.

CONCLUSION

• Musculoskeletal disorders arise due to working in bad postures which

shows a need to change the body postures

• Lack of ergonomics planning and methods in these sectors

• workers are under moderate to high risk of Musculoskeletal disorders

(MSDs)

• Right tools are not available to carry out effective routine maintenance

CONCLUSION…

• The techniques like strain revealed the work is done frequently without

desired breaks and attentions to safe work environment is not adequate

• Most operations carried out are largely supported by manual handling

which often results in overexertion and a long term health hazards

• Personal Protection devices such as earmuff or plug, hand gloves are not

used adequately

• Dust and glass wastes are not properly disposed.

Thank You