Nandi Subroto S, Dhatrak Sarang V, Chaterjee Debasis M, Dhumne Umesh L
Occupational Medicine, National Institute of Miners' Health, JNARDDC Campus, Nagpur - 440 023, India.
Indian J Community Med. 2009 Oct;34(4):343-5. doi: 10.4103/0970-0218.58396.
Mining is a hazardous occupation in which workers are exposed to adverse conditions. In India, gypsum mining is mainly carried out in the state of Rajasthan, which contributes about 99% of the total production.
The present study was carried out in 12 different gypsum mines in Rajasthan state to determine the health status of the miners.
One hundred and fifty workers engaged in mining activities were included in the study and their health status was compared with that of 83 office staff of the same mines. The health status of the employees was evaluated using a standardized medical questionnaire and pulmonary function testing.
The unpaired 't' test was used to determine whether there was any significant difference between the miners and the controls and the chi-square test to compare the prevalences of various respiratory impairments in workers with that in controls; we also examined the differences between smokers and nonsmokers.
Our findings show that the literacy rate is low (42%) among the miners. Pulmonary restrictive impairment was significantly higher amongst smokers as compared to nonsmokers in both miners and controls. Hypertension (22.6%), diabetes (8.8%), and musculoskeletal morbidity (8%) were the common diseases in miners.
This study shows that there is high morbidity amongst miners, thus indicating the need for regular health checkups, health education, use of personal protective devices, and engineering measures for control of the workplace environment.
采矿是一项危险的职业，工人面临不利条件。在印度，石膏矿开采主要在拉贾斯坦邦进行，该邦的产量约占总产量的99%。
本研究在拉贾斯坦邦的12个不同石膏矿开展，以确定矿工的健康状况。
本研究纳入了150名从事采矿活动的工人，并将他们的健康状况与同一矿山的83名办公室职员进行比较。使用标准化的医学问卷和肺功能测试对员工的健康状况进行评估。
采用非配对“t”检验确定矿工与对照组之间是否存在显著差异，采用卡方检验比较工人与对照组各种呼吸障碍的患病率；我们还研究了吸烟者与非吸烟者之间的差异。
我们的研究结果表明，矿工的识字率较低（42%）。在矿工和对照组中，吸烟者的肺限制性损害均显著高于非吸烟者。高血压（22.6%）、糖尿病（8.8%）和肌肉骨骼疾病（8%）是矿工中的常见疾病。
本研究表明，矿工的发病率较高，因此表明需要定期进行健康检查、健康教育、使用个人防护设备以及采取工程措施来控制工作场所环境。
