Author(s): Natasha Sharma and Dr. TG Rupa

Abstract:
Milk and milk products are daily essentials of life and an important part of a balanced diet. It is brought home to us through the efforts of people working in dairy farms who work in difficult conditions to make this possible. In India, dairying is one of the oldest occupations providing a means of livelihood to many, yet the work conditions of the dairy farmers in commercial setups is poor as this falls in the unorganized sector. They work long and hard every day of the year in unsuitable work environment, exposing them to various health problems, accidents and injuries. The present study was undertaken to assess various issues related to work environment in the dairy farms in terms of workplace layout, noise levels, ventilation, lighting, thermal factors, odour and cleanliness. Six dairy farms were chosen for the investigation. Purposive sampling technique was used to select sixty dairy workers (10 from each dairy) and six dairy owners to gain insight into the facilities provided to the employees. The activities performed by the dairy workers ranged from fodder collection, milking, chaffing the fodder, mixing green fodder with roughage, feeding the animals, providing water to animals to cleaning of animal shed, washing and grooming animals. Dairy farming involved strenuous activities as the workers adopted postures like bending and squatting for milking animals, collecting dung and cleaning animal sheds for long hours which increased the static muscular effort resulting in physiological cost and low productivity. It is the responsibility of the employer to provide a safe workplace and duty of the employee to follow the safety rules. A safe and healthy work environment will not only enhance productivity of the employees but also improve goodwill and profit.