A study of morbidity profile amongst construction workers at selected construction sites in Surendranagar city

Abstract

Background: Work plays a central role in people’s lives – whether it is on a construction site, in an office or in a factory. Workers constitute a large & important sector of the world’s population. The two broad categories of construction works are building & civil engineering. Construction workers in both categories are at greater risk of developing certain health disorders & sickness than workers in many other industries. They are exposed to multiple physical, chemical & biological agents, which make them vulnerable to various health problems that include injuries, respiratory problems, dermatitis, and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Apart from this, in most of the construction projects, the workers employed are unorganized in nature & often not guided by the legislations made for the health & welfare of the workers & hence are not eligible for free or subsidized care. In this context, this study was conducted to understand the health problems of construction workers & to advocate public health measures for the promotion of health & prevention of diseases among construction workers. Objectives: To assess the morbidity profile amongst the construction workers & correlate the findings with the occupational profile of the workers. Materials and Methods: It was a Cross-sectional study carried out among 312 construction workers from 10 different construction sites selected by simple random sampling. Data was collected and analyzed by the Statistical package for Social Sciences. Microsoft Word & Excel have been used to generate graphs, tables etc. Results: The study revealed that most common morbidity among construction workers was one or other types of minor injuries (34%) followed by skin problems (25.64%) & MSDs (19.55%). Conclusion: Illiteracy, poor working conditions, lack of infrastructure & security, inadequate health service utilization make these workers a vulnerable population & it shows the imperative need for an overall socioeconomic development as a key for achieving the desired status.