Occupational Health Issues Faced by Women in Spinners

Abstract

Women are the marginal group of the society from the ancient period especially in India. Spinning units are the most prominent wok place for the marginalized women of Indian society. They are earning very less amount of salary when compared to the other sector due to lack of economic opportunities and the material price. Dindigul district is the one of the major hub of the spinning activities of southern part of Tamil Nadu. Weaving and spinning are the activities involving more physical works compare to the other kind of works. This high involvement of physical activities influences on the health condition of the women in psychologically and many other ways. This study aimed to understand the psychological issues faced by the women spinning workers in the study area. For the study purpose, 81 respondents working in the spinning units of Gandhigram trust. This study found that workers gave added strain to the workers and the pain was severely felt and at the shoulders and hands. It concludes that man-machine combination needs to be optimized along with improvements made in the charkha as with this only one can be sure of increased productivity. Further, more studies are needed in this area to improve the health and occupational status of the women workers.