Aim and Objectives
1.11 Organization of the thesis
A brief outline of the whole work on the subject matter is presented in the following chapters.
1.11.1 Chapter I - Introduction
This chapter focused on highlighting the role and contribution of the textiles and handlooms industry to the community of the whole world, consisting of research problem related to the environmental factors and occupational health of the weavers, scenario of environmental research in handloom sector and the scenario in handloom sector of Bargarh district has been discussed at length. It has also focused and discussed the research gap and justification of the present research, related research questions
arrived, the aim of present research endeavor and the objectives towards achieving the aim were pen downed. The hypothesis of the thesis, expected outcome and flow of the research work is also outlined.
1.11.2 Chapter II - Review of Literature
While Chapter II portrays about the importance of environment, environmental factors and scenario of the global textile and handloom industry, over and above entailed the prominence involvement of this sector to the global exports and in the national economy.
History and status of this industry during the medieval period and status of handlooms and the handloom weavers as per the handloom census report 2010 has been discussed.
Current scenario and strategy for reviving handloom sector and the rural scenario with respect to handloom of eastern states of India with the special focus on Odisha state related to environmental issues have been talked about. The importance of environmental factors and their impact on occupational health, efficiency and performance of the weavers in the textile and small cottage handloom enterprises have also been taken care off. Various ergonomic interventions recommended for improvement of environmental conditions in other sectors have been discussed at length.
1.11.3 Chapter III - Methodology
Chapter III sketches out the selection of location with the reason for selecting the same for study purpose. The sampling of the subjects and the demographic study was carried out on the workers of selected clusters. Research framework and design of the experiment was structured as a guideline for assessment of various parameters related to illumination (Lux), noise (dBA), physiological measurements such as heart rate, discomfort rating using Borg CR10 scale and calculate the cognitive psychological assessment using NASA Task Load Index. Design the questionnaires for assessment of impact of the illumination and noise, the data collection of the weavers was performed using both subjective (questionnaire) and objective (physical measurements of the environmental factors) methods to figure out the prevalence of physical, physiological and psychological problems existing in the present loom conditions. Reliability of questionnaires was examined. Statistical analysis of the collected data sets was performed using SPSS v.20 (IBM, USA) software and calculated the Friedman’s Chi- Squared (χ2F) tests for independence as well as for association along with the correlation
between environmental factors and their subjective perception by using Spearman’s correlation coefficient (r).
1.11.4 Chapter I - Results
The values of illumination, noise and heart rate were collected and tabulated month wise, season wise and for the whole year through measurement and significance level between group analysis was calculated. Physical, physiological, psychological and discomfort rating parameters of the questions in the illumination and noise questionnaire so obtained were also tabulated and analyzed for significance level. Discomfort levels of various discomfort factors in the questionnaire of illumination and noise were tabulated.
Administration reliability of the questionnaire was examined by subjecting them through Cronbach's Alpha (‘α’) for their reliability and internal consistency of the scales.
Friedman’s Chi-Squared (χ2F ) test was performed to ascertain for the association between illumination as well as noise level with psycho-physiological discomforts.
Correlation between environmental factors (illumination and noise) and their subjective perception were evaluated by using Spearman’s correlation coefficient (r). Further, coefficient of Determination (CD, expressed as r2)was also calculated to examine that to what extent these variables share their variance components. Month-wise representation of correlation coefficient (r) between illumination, noise and questions in the questionnaire was also tabulated and discussed.
1.11.5 Chapter V - General discussion and conclusion of the overall thesis
In this chapter V consolidated findings of the research experiments have been presented and discussed the various issues related to the handloom village and small industries such as lack of research and application of environmental ergonomics in Indian handloom sector; interpretations and inferences of the observations of the present research and fulfilment of the objectives of the present study. Illumination and noise level of the handloom sectors have been discussed in detail. Moreover, evaluation of physiological and psychological cost of illumination and noise on the weavers’ health has also been discussed at length. The experimental hypotheses as assumed in the very beginning have been tested, justified and thus fulfilled with the research findings. Salient findings and the key contributions of this current research and proposal towards intervention strategies for improving the illumination level and reducing the noise level
in handlooms have also been taken care off. Intervention strategies such as general recommendations for overall wellbeing, specific recommendations for enhancing illumination level and controlling impact of noise in addition to ergonomic / design interventions towards improvement of illumination and protection from noise level in handlooms have been suggested. The conclusion covered the need for research initiatives in Indian handloom sector from environmental ergonomics perspectives; limitations of the present research along with future research scope and contribution of the research findings to the handloom industry have been highlighted prudently.