HEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG STEEL INDUSTRIAL WORKERS

The present study aimed to assess the health problems of the workers in selected steel industries in Kozhikode district. The objectives of the study were to assess the physical and psychological health problems of workers of steel industry, identify the personal protective measures used by workers in steel industry, nd out the association between physical health problems and psychological problems with selected demographic variables and to develop a need-based information booklet on importance of use of personal protective measures among steel industry workers. A non-experimental descriptive survey design was adopted for the study, employing 300 workers from selected private and public sector steel industries. The tools used were a semi structured interview schedule to assess the physical health problems, modied standardized general health questionnaire and standardized perceived stress scale to assess the psychological health problems and a practice proforma to assess the usage of personal protective measures. The result revealed that majority of the workers experienced physical problems such as breathing difculty (43.82%), heart burns (39.71%), skin ulcers (21.32%), joint pain (72.3%). 76% of workers had accidents during their working time. Psychological problems experienced were moderate level of anxiety (29.7%), moderate level of depression (29.90%) and moderate level of stress (47.10%). 75.4% of workers had poor usage of the personal protective measures during the working hours. Based on the above ndings a need-based information booklet on importance of use of personal protective measures was prepared and distributed among workers.