Suri Shivali, Das Ranjan
Department of Community Medicine, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Associated Hospitals, New Delhi, India.
Natl Med J India. 2016 Sep-Oct;29(5):277-281.
The occupational health scenario of workers engaged in the manufacturing sector in India deserves attention for their safety and increasing productivity. We reviewed the status of the manufacturing sector, identified hazards faced by workers, and assessed the existing legislations and healthcare delivery mechanisms.
From October 2014 to March 2015, we did a literature review by manual search of pre-identified journals, general electronic search, electronic search of dedicated websites/databases and personal communication with experts of occupational health.
An estimated 115 million workers are engaged in the manufacturing sector, though the Labour Bureau takes into account only one-tenth of them who work in factories registered with the government. Most reports do not mention the human capital employed neither their quality of life, nor occupational health services available. The incidence of accidents were documented till 2011, and industry-wise break up of data is not available. Occupational hazards reported include hypertension, stress, liver disease, diabetes, tuberculosis, eye/ hearing problems, cancers, etc. We found no studies for manufacturing industries in glass, tobacco, computer and allied products, etc. The incidence of accidents is decreasing but the proportion of fatalities is increasing. Multiple legislations exist which cover occupational health, but most of these are old and have not been amended adequately to reflect the present situation. There is a shortage of manpower and occupational health statistics for dealing with surveillance, prevention and regulation in this sector.
There is an urgent need of a modern occupational health legislation and an effective machinery to enforce it, preferably through intersectoral coordination between the Employees' State Insurance Corporation, factories and state governments. Occupational health should be integrated with the general health services.
印度制造业工人的职业健康状况因其安全和提高生产力而值得关注。我们回顾了制造业的现状，确定了工人面临的危害，并评估了现行立法和医疗保健提供机制。
2014年10月至2015年3月，我们通过人工搜索预先确定的期刊、普通电子搜索、专门网站/数据库的电子搜索以及与职业健康专家的个人交流进行了文献综述。
估计有1.15亿工人从事制造业，尽管劳工局只考虑了在政府注册工厂工作的十分之一的工人。大多数报告既没有提及所雇佣的人力资本，也没有提及他们的生活质量或现有的职业健康服务。事故发生率记录到2011年，且没有按行业划分的数据。报告的职业危害包括高血压、压力、肝病、糖尿病、结核病、眼/听力问题、癌症等。我们没有找到关于玻璃、烟草、计算机及相关产品等制造业的研究。事故发生率在下降，但死亡比例在上升。存在多项涵盖职业健康的立法，但其中大多数都很陈旧，没有得到充分修订以反映当前情况。在该部门处理监测、预防和监管方面，人力和职业健康统计数据短缺。
迫切需要一部现代职业健康立法以及一个有效的执行机制，最好通过雇员国家保险公司、工厂和邦政府之间的部门间协调来实现。职业健康应与一般健康服务相结合。
