"Fish processing is a seasonal activity in the seacoast regions. Work-related stresses and health hazards of women in fish processing works (N=185) were examined to explore interventions to mitigate the hazards. The activities included cleaning and grading of fishes, peeling of shells, deveining, slicing, ring cutting of squid, processing for instant quick freezing, and packing of fishes and transferring to cold storage. Standing at the work desk or sitting on floor, the women in bare hands performed varieties of tasks with abundant use of ice-cold chlorinated water. A multi-method ergonomics checklist was introduced, including assessment of health complaints, musculoskeletal pain and discomfort, skin symptoms and temperatures (Tsk) of hand and fingers. A principal component analysis yielded three components of stressors related to the work environment, the methods of work, and the psychosocial variables that explained 80.4% of the total variance. Component 1 (15 items) described the work environment stressors, such as cold, wet, greasy and slippery work premises, congested work area, lack of personal protective wears and irregular work hours. The cold injuries—blanching of fingers to hand numbness, and Raynaud's phenomena in the palm areas, might be attributed to the stressors of Component 1 that explained 32.5% of the total variance. The Tsk of hand areas during work were as low as 20.7±1.9 °C, i.e., 8 °C less than the pre-exposure values. One-way ANOVA showed that the Tsk of the hand areas differed with the exposure conditions (F(2,95) ranged from 44.2 to 107.3; p0.001 for Tsk of back of hand and fingers, respectively). The drop in Tsk during work were statistically significant (p0.001), compared to pre-exposure Tsk. Component 2 (13 items) described the stressors of the methods of work, such as unsafe hand tools, sitting on the floor, and sustained standing. About 67% of the workers complained of musculoskeletal pain and discomfort. The highest prevalence of discomfort was reported for the lower back, followed by knees, upper back, calf, and other areas, that explained the stressors grouped under Component 2. The women were at risks of repeated cut injuries from the unsafe cutting knives, and handling of fish materials. Principal component 3 (9 items)—the psychosocial variables (supervisory pressure, changing job assignments, personal job characteristics) explained about 22.8% of the total variance. The study reiterated for the much needed work design interventions to mitigate the documented risk factors. Since the hands were the most affected body parts, the regular wearing of latex gloves was advocated and in using gloves for 2 h work, the women substantially improved Tsk of the hand and fingers, compared to the situations when working bare hands, and 84% of the women did not show any cold induced symptoms. An overall impression prevailed that the use of gloves gave the women good feelings of working better."

Support: Digital