Long hours of static work with awkward working postures at traditionally designed looms can cause high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among handloom weavers. Because of incompatible working situations handloom weaver in textile industries are confronting with many work related musculoskeletal problems related to pain and discomfort in upper and lower extremities. Keeping this in view, the present study was planned to assess the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and postural discomfort among handloom weavers. For this study, 64 (male and female) handloom weavers aged 20-55 years were selected randomly from Almora and Nainital districts of Uttarakhand state. To collect the information, standardized Nordic questionnaire was used to assess pain and discomfort in different body regions of handloom weavers. It was observed that those workers worked continuously in awkward postures during weaving activities. Consequently they suffered from high discomfort in their different body parts. High rate of pain and musculoskeletal disorder was most prevalent in right wrist, left wrist, hip/thigh, neck and lower back of the workers. The data reveled that since last 12 months, total 76.56 percent workers were suffered with pain and discomfort in right hand and 73.44 percent workers had pain and discomfort in both elbows. During last month, 73.44 percent workers were suffered with pain and discomfort in upper back because of awkward working postures whereas during 7 days, total 59.38 percent workers had pain in lower back. The study indicates that the traditional handloom weaving demands immediate ergonomic intervention in the workstation and process design.
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) production constitutes the major economic activity and a key source of employment for the rural population of India. Manual transplanting of paddy in puddle field is a very tedious job and involves lot of fatigue and drudgery. To reduce the labour demand and time consumption, power operated transplanters are also available but the poor socio-economic conditions of Indian farmers restrict them to adopt modern technology. Keeping this in view, the present study was planned to compare the economic cost and the rate of human drudgery among female farm workers, during manual hand transplanting with the power operated eight-row paddy transplanter. For the ergonomical evaluation, twenty female subjects were selected in the age group of 20-55 years. Physiological parameters like HR, energy expenditure, TCCW and PCW etc. were measured in different transplanting operations. The mean value of working heart rate was assessed to be maximum 138.32±7.67 beats/ min in manual hand transplanting and 110.12±5.79 beats/min in eight-row paddy transplanter. The energy expenditure rate was measured 18.40±0.95 kJ/min in local transplanting method and reduced to 15.17±1.68 kJ/min with paddy transplanter. TCCW was found to be 1965.5±63.66 beats for manual transplanting of paddy and 770.58±39.93 beats by the use of paddy transplanter whereas the PCW was calculated 227.98±22.17 in traditional method and 85.23±2.64 in improved method. The economic cost of mechanized transplanting was 47% less than conventional method.
A study was conducted in College of Home Science, Department of Family Resource Management and Consumer Science organized skill development classes for the economic empowerment of the students. These classes are geared towards the needs of students in a particular context keeping in view their social needs, culture and geographic realities. The present study was carried out to enhance the economic empowerment of students of Kumarganj through skill development. A Total 124 respondents participated in the study. Primary data were collected through interview schedule. Results revealed that about 80 percent of the respondents improved their skills in functional and decorative crafts while 87 percent respondents contributed to family income. Following a skill development programme, 70% of respondents agreed that they had improved their leadership and communication skills. The findings indicated that organising students into self-help groups was a relevant strategy for empowering them, as poor students expressed a strong tendency to derive strength from being a member of the group. The intervention of Family Resource Management and consumer science had a positive impact on students' functional status. It was observed that there is a perfect fit between skills, resource available, technological options and marketing avenues.
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