Assessment of Occupational Health Hazards in Beedi Workers

INTRODUCTION

Beedi manufacturing in India is a agro-forest based traditional industry which is labour intensive and chiefly unorganized. It has one of the largest employers of workers in India, only after agriculture, handloom and construction. There are more than 5 million workers involved in the beedi rolling industry, majority of whom are women. Beedi workers are the major part of workforce under the poverty line.¹
The welfare measures for beedi workers to improve their socio-economic status are insufficient when compared to the number of beedi workers in India. Beedi workers predominantly women, are forced to work for long hours in improper working postures and much beyond their working capacities, often leading to the development of serious health hazards.¹
The occupational health hazards of beedi workers have not been paid proper attention to and there is a need to study the common health issues and to reduce if not eliminate it for greater safety and health.

AIMS

To study the commonly and frequently found occupational health hazards among the beedi workers.

METHODOLOGY

A cross sectional survey was performed among 50 beedi workers visiting a beedi collecting center at Deralakatte, Mangalore. Only those individuals who performed the beedi rolling themselves were included in the study. Individuals visiting the centres for depositing the rolled beedis were excluded. They were questioned about their socio-economic status, working conditions and health complaints.

RESULTS

A total of 50 beedi workers participated in the survey out of which 45 were females and 5 were males. Beedi rolling was the main job amongst 41 participants who worked for almost 6-7 hours per day. 9 individuals who performed beedi rolling as a part-time job worked for 1-2 hours per day. All the participants rolled beedis at their home. 16 out of 50 participants complained of headache due to long working hours and 21 participants complained of backache, shoulder and neck pain. 10 participants complained of respiratory difficulties like cough, wheeezing and breathlessness due to long term inhalation of tobacco dust. 5 participants complained of stress related issues like TMJ pain with clenching.

DISCUSSION

The present survey was performed to evaluate the occupational health hazards in beedi workers. Majority of the beedi workers were females and 92% of the workers practiced beedi rolling as their main job. 42% of the workers complained of backache, shoulder and neck pain as their chief problem. This was mainly due to working in forward leaning posture with bending their head and neck downward for prolonged hours without any back support and arm rest. Sabale RV et al in 2012 noted that beedi rollers chiefly suffer from musculoskeletal pain and fatigue.² Beedi workers need to be made aware of the health consequences and the importance of right postures for long working hours.
20% of the participants in our study complained of respiratory difficulties due to long term inhalation of tobacco dust. Majority of the workers work in a small room without adequate ventilation. Beedis are rolled without using any protective mask/gloves. Tobacco dust is known to contain various immunological active as well as toxic substances.3 Long term exposure to the dust of tobacco leaves is known to cause significant increase in mild obstructive respiratory disturbances. Tobacco dust chiefly contains nitrosamines, which can be easily absorbed by body tissues like skin, respiratory epithelium and mucous membrane of mouth, nose and intestines.⁴ In the present survey, 10% of the workers complained of respiratory symptoms like cough with breathlessness, morning coughs, cough throughout the day, etc. The frequency of aberrant metaphases and the proportion of individuals with CA were significantly higher in workers than in controls, indicating that occupational exposure to tobacco imposes considerable genotoxicity among tobacco processors.⁵

CONCLUSION

The present survey evaluated the occupational health hazards among beedi workers which showed that almost half of the workers complained of postural as well as respiratory symptoms. Therefore, there is a need to identify the occupational hazards associated with the beedi rolling and suggest remedial measures to eliminate the problems of safety and health of these workers through awareness programs directed to improve their quality of life.
Large scale studies are required to:

• to document information on occupational health of beedi workers
• to conduct awareness on occupational health and provide adequate training
• to provide welfare services
• to adequately deliver health care services to the beedi workers

REFERNCES

1. Rajasekhar D, Sreedhar G. Alternative employment opportunities for women workers: A study in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. Journal of Rural Development 2002; 21(4) 449 -481.
2. Sabale RV, Kowli SS, Chowdhary PH. Working condition and health hazards in beedi rollers residing in the urban slums of Mumbai. Indian J Occup Environ Med. 2012;16(2): 72–74.
3. Ignacak A, Guzik TJ, Górski L, Czerniawska-Mysik G, Adamek-Guzik T. Influence of tobacco dust on the respiratory system and selected immunological parameters Przegl Lek. 2002;59(10):789-92.
4. Umadevi B, Swarna M, Padmavathi P, Jyothi A, Reddy PP. Cytogenetic effect in workers occupationally exposed to tobacco dust. Mutat Res 2003; 535: 147-54.
5. Mahimkar MB, Bhisey RA. Occupational exposure to bidi tobacco increases chromosomal aberrations in tobacco processors. Mutat Res. 1995 Apr;334(2):139-44.