P-298 Morbidities Among Workers of Adhesive Tape Industry in India

Introduction The workers working in the adhesive tape industry are exposed to harmful effects of chemical and pollutants. Workers in these industries face severe health consequences due to exposure to pollution, handling and storing wastes, and continuous exposure to loud noise and bright light. The study aims to assess selected morbidities in an adhesive tape industry in India Materials and Methods The retrospective record-based cross-sectional study was conducted over 3 months. Data was obtained from periodic medical examination of employees and included socio-demographic characteristics and details regarding selected morbidities among the workers. SPSS Version 23 was used for data analysis and Chi-square test was used to assess associations between qualitative variables. Results Among 127 workers analyzed, all were males. It was observed that 11.02% had hypertension, 25.1% were overweight with BMI >25, 4.7% had defects in far vision, 9.4% had defects in near vision, 4.7 % had deranged blood sugars with random blood sugar >200mg/dl and 3.9% had abnormal liver function tests, 18.2% had pulmonary function abnormalities and 4.2% had abnormal audiometry findings. Discussion Adhesive tape industry workers suffered from various occupational health problems such as hearing deficit, visual impairment and pulmonary function abnormalities as well as lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Conclusion This study stresses the need for regular health surveillance of workers to detect any deviations from heath along with information, instruction and training on use of appropriate PPE. Lifestyle modifications such as exercise and healthy diet should be inculcated amongst the workers to prevent non communicable diseases.