Author(s): Upasana and Deepa Vinay

Abstract:
Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) have been described as the most common cause of severe long term pain and physical hazards affecting people across the world. Tailors were performing various activities to create new pieces of clothing from patterns and designs or modify existing garments to fit to the customers. Due to nature of this profession tailors adopted awkward posture and repetitive motion, which cause musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational health hazards. Therefore the present study was conducted on 60 male respondents engaged with tailoring profession from Pantnagar (Uttarakhand, India). The musculoskeletal symptoms were assessed by using body map and standardized Nordic questionnaire. A precoded questionnaire was also developed to measure the exposure regarding the type of machine being operated, working hour, units produced per day, workspace and workplace storage. For the major activities it was found that the respondents reported pain 34% in neck in cutting, 40% in lower back in stitching and 48% in neck in ironing activity. The result of Nordic questionnaire revealed that more than 50 percent of the respondents reported pain in lower back, neck and shoulder. The findings indicate that the tailors were doing very hard but not realizing the risks of musculoskeletal discomforts associated with their poorly designed workstation, tasks and awkward working postures.