Industrial Accidents in Jute Mills of Nepal

Abstract

Jute Industries are the first industrial setup in Nepal. Many historical and political events of Nepal are linked to the jute mills. Therefore, jute is one of the important sectors. Jute mills are labour oriented industries and more than twelve thousand workers including one thousand six hundred woman workers are directly involved in ten operational jute mills. Almost all the mills are situated only in Eastern Terai, namely Sunsari and Morang districts of Koshi zone.Jute mills are closing year by year may be the scarcity of raw materials, manpower and market demands. Due to hazardous nature of jute mill workers are not willing to work in these industries. The safety and health of the workers and their efficiency are reciprocal entities. Health and Safety measures not only result in reduced rate of industrial accidents but also raise the work productivity. The purpose of the study is to assess the potential accident prevention strategy for Jute Industries. Field based Action research was conducted. Accident due to machineries ,manual material handling ,poor housekeeping ,electricity, lack of maintenance and supervision , lack of Personal Protecting Equipment , fire , occupational stress also due to lack of safety culture were majour issues. Proper training and refresher training programs should be conducted to educate the workers as well as their supervisors particularly on occupational safety and health for ensuring regularly checked and maintained. All the moving drives i.e. belt drives, rollers and gear drivers should be properly guarded or fenced. Proper cable size and connection reduce the fire and electrocution. All machines should properly earth.