Health Hazards and Socioeconomic Effects of Stone Crushing Industry on Its Workers: A Case Study of Sargodha, Pakistan

Stone crushing industry is a dominant but still environmentally unorganized sector in Pakistan. Its different operations cause significant environmental impacts including air and noise pollution in the vicinity as well as vibration effects far-off. A questionnaire survey was conducted in stone crushing industrial area of Sargodha, Pakistan to assess its harmful health and economic impacts on workers engaged in different activities of stone crushing and production. According to this survey, many workers were aged, which increases the probability of health effects due to air pollutants. It was found that most of the workers were illiterate. Industrial section engaging maximum number of workers was hammering.The questionnaire results showed that there was no provision of any Personal Protection Equipment to the majority of laborer (94%). It means that most of the workers had no protection facility provided by the employer while working in the polluted industrial environment. Major health effects in workers of the industry were hearing problem (82%), skin irritation (75%) and respiratory problem (69%). Most of workers in the industry were on daily wages and their monthly salary was in the range of PKR. 8,000 to PKR 10,000, that is lesser than the minimum monthly salary fixed by the government for unskilled workers. It is concluded that stone crushing industry has harmful effects on workers’ health and there is urgent need to provide training and Personal Protection Equipmentto them to minimize the health effects.