Agriculture involves plough agriculture involves ploughing, sowing, weeding, transplanting, harvesting, cultivation, forestry, plantation, fisheries, and others as principal agricultural operations. Extensive use of machinery, tools along with different types of agrochemicals has increased the accidents rates among the agricultural workforce who are mostly migrants. The environment conditions (like the extreme heat and cold, water, land and air pollution, snakes and insect bites) to which the farmers get exposed while carrying the activities aggravates the occupational diseases. The agriculture sector in India is mostly unorganized which means most of the accidents and hazards continue to get unnoticed. A detailed activity-based risk assessment study of the following agriculture hazards will provide better safety controls.
CHEMICAL HAZARDS: Proper handing, storing, mixing, Spraying and disposal of used containers of agrochemicals plays a vital role in reducing chemical contaminations and help in averting most of the health issues that arise from coming in contact with chemicals while spraying.
2.MECHANICAL HAZARDS: Improper use of Tractors, harvesters, chemical applicators, planting and cultivating machines will cause traumatic injuries which can be fatal. Power take-offs, drive shaft entanglements, contact injuries with rotating parts and sharp edges, crushing injuries will result in severe injuries.
3.ERGONOMIC HAZARDS: Agriculture activities require repetitive, forceful or prolonged exertion of the hands resulting in musculoskeletal injuries.
4. BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS: Chances of Zoonotic diseases getting transmitted are high due to close contact with animals, these can cause a variety of health effects. Snake bites, insect bites etc are sometimes fatal.
5.PSYCHOSOCIAL HAZARDS: Addiction to tobacco, alcohol, smoking for overcoming stress
Some of the important risk controls required are:
1)Workers who operate machinery should be well versed with all the safety aspects of operating the machinery, the owner of the land should ensure that workers receive proper training and ensure that machinery should be serviced and at regular intervals
2) Falling object preventive structures and Rollover protection system should be made as compulsory installation on equipment to protect from sudden debris falling and sudden toppling.
3) All moving and rotating parts for any equipment or tools should have guard and shield protection to avoid entanglements, injuries and accidents.
4) All personal precautions like wearing proper PPE’s, wearing gumboots/shoes, avoiding loose clothing while working near machinery to be ensured to avoid injuries
5) A proper system of usage of agrochemicals and disposal of containers should be standardized. Restriction on the use of tobacco products and de-addiction programmes to be taken up.
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