Letters to the Editor
A comment on “Occupational hazard exposure and general health profile of welders in rural Delhi” Dear Sir, This is in reference to the article, “Occupational hazard exposure and general health profile of welders in rural Delhi” published in Indian J Occup Environ Med 2014;18:21–6.[1] The authors have done a commendable job to assess the duration of occupational hazard exposure and its association with symptoms among the welders. However I have a few concerns regarding this study. On one hand the authors have mentioned in the Material and Methods section that more than 75% of the males in the village were employed outside the agriculture and on the other hand they mentioned that the study was done in rural Delhi. Furthermore, they have mentioned Slums under the heading “Definition of Variables.” So it is not clear as to which study population the authors referred to in their study. Secondly, under the heading “Work Profile of the Welders,” the authors have mentioned seven welders (7%) doing unskilled work, whereas rest of them were either involved in semi‑skilled (n = 51; 48%) or skilled job (n = 48; 45%). Although they have given the general definitions of unskilled, semi‑skilled, and skilled workers, the readers would have been benefitted more if the authors had classified welding positions depending on the training and types of welding machines that a welder is capable of using. For example, the authors should have categorized the welders as skilled workers who had the experience of using multiple welding machines and were involved as the arc welder, tungsten inert gas (TIG) welder, and metal inert gas (MIG) welder. Unskilled welders should have been those who did repetitive work, which requires little or no special skill such as work on assembly lines and so on.
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Furthermore, the authors have included all workers older than 15 years who were involved in Manual Metal Arc Welding for at least 1 year in their study (Inclusion Criteria). But there seems to be no reason why workers specifically above 15 years of age only were included. Lastly, the authors have not provided any details on how the sample size was collected. The authors have only mentioned that after mapping (of welding small‑scale industries and mechanic workshops), welders involved in Manual Metal Arc Welding at their workplace were located and contacted on the day of survey. It is not clear as to how it was done: Whether they did simple random sampling to take up different workshops in that area or they just started from one direction and interviewed the workers till they achieved the required sample size.
REFERENCE 1.
Chauhan A, Anand T, Kishore J, Danielsen TE, Ingle GK. Occupational hazard exposure and general health profile of welders in rural Delhi. Indian J Occup Environ Med 2014;18:21‑6.
Kanica Kaushal Department of Community Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India For correspondence: Dr. Kanica Kaushal, Department of Community Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. E‑mail: kanicak8 @gmail.com
Access this article online Website: www.ijoem.com DOI: 10.4103/0019-5278.146918 Quick Response Code:
Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine - December 2014 - Volume 18 - Issue 3
Copyright of Indian Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine is the property of Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
A comment on “Occupational hazard exposure and general health profile of welders in rural Delhi” Dear Sir, This is in reference to the article, “Occupational hazard exposure and general health profile of welders in rural Delhi” published in Indian J Occup Environ Med 2014;18:21–6.[1] The authors have done a commendable job to assess the duration of occupational hazard exposure and its association with symptoms among the welders. However I have a few concerns regarding this study. On one hand the authors have mentioned in the Material and Methods section that more than 75% of the males in the village were employed outside the agriculture and on the other hand they mentioned that the study was done in rural Delhi. Furthermore, they have mentioned Slums under the heading “Definition of Variables.” So it is not clear as to which study population the authors referred to in their study. Secondly, under the heading “Work Profile of the Welders,” the authors have mentioned seven welders (7%) doing unskilled work, whereas rest of them were either involved in semi‑skilled (n = 51; 48%) or skilled job (n = 48; 45%). Although they have given the general definitions of unskilled, semi‑skilled, and skilled workers, the readers would have been benefitted more if the authors had classified welding positions depending on the training and types of welding machines that a welder is capable of using. For example, the authors should have categorized the welders as skilled workers who had the experience of using multiple welding machines and were involved as the arc welder, tungsten inert gas (TIG) welder, and metal inert gas (MIG) welder. Unskilled welders should have been those who did repetitive work, which requires little or no special skill such as work on assembly lines and so on.
162
Furthermore, the authors have included all workers older than 15 years who were involved in Manual Metal Arc Welding for at least 1 year in their study (Inclusion Criteria). But there seems to be no reason why workers specifically above 15 years of age only were included. Lastly, the authors have not provided any details on how the sample size was collected. The authors have only mentioned that after mapping (of welding small‑scale industries and mechanic workshops), welders involved in Manual Metal Arc Welding at their workplace were located and contacted on the day of survey. It is not clear as to how it was done: Whether they did simple random sampling to take up different workshops in that area or they just started from one direction and interviewed the workers till they achieved the required sample size.
REFERENCE 1.
Chauhan A, Anand T, Kishore J, Danielsen TE, Ingle GK. Occupational hazard exposure and general health profile of welders in rural Delhi. Indian J Occup Environ Med 2014;18:21‑6.
Kanica Kaushal Department of Community Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India For correspondence: Dr. Kanica Kaushal, Department of Community Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. E‑mail: kanicak8 @gmail.com
Access this article online Website: www.ijoem.com DOI: 10.4103/0019-5278.146918 Quick Response Code:
Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine - December 2014 - Volume 18 - Issue 3
Copyright of Indian Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine is the property of Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
