Comparative occupational health risk between tobacco and paddy farming people in Bangladesh

Abstract

Background and aimsEvery profession comes with distinct sets of health risks.The study aims to assess occupational health hazards between tobacco and paddy farming people.Also, it specifies what kind of diseases they have to face due to farming and tries to understand their health-seeking behaviors. MethodsThe study adopts mixed methods with qualitative/quantitative and secondary and primary data. The primary data was collected through structured questionnaires, interviews, and observation. The researcher selected a village (Village name Panchbari), where 25 paddy farmer families as a sample.However, in the case of tobacco farming people, the researcher has taken 384 tobacco farming-related respondents as a sample based on the theory of sampling for the unknown population. ResultsResults suggest that almost 90% of tobacco workers and 72% of paddy workers think work involved with crop farming and processing had health risks. Green Tobacco Sickness was the most common problem with tobacco farming people. However, the study found different scenarios like low stamina, vomiting, and headache were the three most common health problems experienced by paddy farming people. Besides, breathing problems, headaches during working time, skin rash, and vomiting were also common. The output of the study suggests that paddy farming is safer than tobacco farming in occupational health problems and people were not much concerned about using protecting gears. ConclusionThe study will play an influential role in understanding the occupational health risk of farmers in rural areas. In addition, the findings of the study can be helpful for rural health professionals to understand the types of health risks associated with the farming of paddy and tobacco.