Safety Measures in Welding and Spray Painting in Pakistan: A Systematic Review

Use of Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) is an integral segment in occupational safety program in order to improve injury and loss prevention; however, in developing nations the occupational safety is often undermined. Across the under developed countries, employees in informal sector are executing their duty in the absence of adequate safety setup. We conducted a Systematic literature review of studies on use and impact of protection equipment in informal sector (Welding and Spray Painting) of Pakistan. Google Scholar was searched for use of occupational personal safety studies conducted in English in two sectors (Welding and Spray Painting) in Pakistan. Search resulted in fifty six (56) studies. The initial, abstract and full text review finally yielded seven (7) studies for this review. Overall state of use of PPE was found very disappointing. No Policy exists and poor field implementation was reported. Eye Shields and gloves were among the highest available used PPEs. There was no use of respirators in welding and spray painting areas. This is the first-ever review on the state of occupational safety in informal sector (welding and spray painting) of Pakistan. Detailed studies in informal sector are required to depict the safety practices.