Latex glove industry: prevalence of heat‐related illness among Malaysian workers

Glove production involves work processes with a high temperature. However, few studies have been conducted on the hazards of high temperature among workers. This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of heat‐related illness among glove industry workers under heat stress conditions. This cro...

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Main Authors: Kassim, Nurazirah, Karuppiah, Karmegam, Zainal Abidin, Emilia, Md Tamrin, Shamsul Bahri
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2019
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/81203/1/GLOVE.pdf
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author Kassim, Nurazirah
Karuppiah, Karmegam
Zainal Abidin, Emilia
Md Tamrin, Shamsul Bahri
author_facet Kassim, Nurazirah
Karuppiah, Karmegam
Zainal Abidin, Emilia
Md Tamrin, Shamsul Bahri
author_sort Kassim, Nurazirah
collection UPM
description Glove production involves work processes with a high temperature. However, few studies have been conducted on the hazards of high temperature among workers. This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of heat‐related illness among glove industry workers under heat stress conditions. This cross‐sectional study was conducted in a glove factory at Selangor. The total number of workers (n = 82) were interviewed using adapted questionnaires. The highest prevalent heat‐related illnesses in respondents were dehydration (82.2%), followed by heat exhaustion (81.1%), heat cramps (23.2%), heat rashes (22.2%), heat stroke (5.6%), and heat syncope (4.4%). The workers are highly exposed to dehydration and heat exhaustion illness. Therefore, prevention of heat stress is very important in this industry. It is the duty of the employers to implement suitable prevention measures to protect the health and safety of their workers. As a recommendation, personal protective equipment such as a cool vest also helps in protection from the hot working environment. The cool vest has inserted frozen liquid placed between the fabrics and is worn on the upper trunk. This helps in giving workers freedom to move around, as it has no attached lines. This suit has a constant and steady cooling effect on the whole body. Besides this, training on heat stress and on the ways of controlling heat stress should be provided by employers. This training program can help in educating and creating awareness among workers on the symptoms of heat‐related illness, which can help in preventing any worst case of heat stress from occurring. The training program may include the description of heat stress, including the symptoms of heat‐related illness and the first‐aid measures for each disorder.
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spelling upm.eprints-812032021-06-17T00:42:11Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/81203/ Latex glove industry: prevalence of heat‐related illness among Malaysian workers Kassim, Nurazirah Karuppiah, Karmegam Zainal Abidin, Emilia Md Tamrin, Shamsul Bahri Glove production involves work processes with a high temperature. However, few studies have been conducted on the hazards of high temperature among workers. This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of heat‐related illness among glove industry workers under heat stress conditions. This cross‐sectional study was conducted in a glove factory at Selangor. The total number of workers (n = 82) were interviewed using adapted questionnaires. The highest prevalent heat‐related illnesses in respondents were dehydration (82.2%), followed by heat exhaustion (81.1%), heat cramps (23.2%), heat rashes (22.2%), heat stroke (5.6%), and heat syncope (4.4%). The workers are highly exposed to dehydration and heat exhaustion illness. Therefore, prevention of heat stress is very important in this industry. It is the duty of the employers to implement suitable prevention measures to protect the health and safety of their workers. As a recommendation, personal protective equipment such as a cool vest also helps in protection from the hot working environment. The cool vest has inserted frozen liquid placed between the fabrics and is worn on the upper trunk. This helps in giving workers freedom to move around, as it has no attached lines. This suit has a constant and steady cooling effect on the whole body. Besides this, training on heat stress and on the ways of controlling heat stress should be provided by employers. This training program can help in educating and creating awareness among workers on the symptoms of heat‐related illness, which can help in preventing any worst case of heat stress from occurring. The training program may include the description of heat stress, including the symptoms of heat‐related illness and the first‐aid measures for each disorder. Wiley 2019-03 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/81203/1/GLOVE.pdf Kassim, Nurazirah and Karuppiah, Karmegam and Zainal Abidin, Emilia and Md Tamrin, Shamsul Bahri (2019) Latex glove industry: prevalence of heat‐related illness among Malaysian workers. Human Factors and Ergonomics in manufacturing & Service Industries, 29 (2). pp. 172-176. ISSN 1090-8471; ESSN: 1520-6564 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hfm.20771 10.1002/hfm.20771
spellingShingle Kassim, Nurazirah
Karuppiah, Karmegam
Zainal Abidin, Emilia
Md Tamrin, Shamsul Bahri
Latex glove industry: prevalence of heat‐related illness among Malaysian workers
title Latex glove industry: prevalence of heat‐related illness among Malaysian workers
title_full Latex glove industry: prevalence of heat‐related illness among Malaysian workers
title_fullStr Latex glove industry: prevalence of heat‐related illness among Malaysian workers
title_full_unstemmed Latex glove industry: prevalence of heat‐related illness among Malaysian workers
title_short Latex glove industry: prevalence of heat‐related illness among Malaysian workers
title_sort latex glove industry prevalence of heat related illness among malaysian workers
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/81203/1/GLOVE.pdf
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