Work environment in the wheat mills of Punjab, India

The present study was conducted on workers in the wheat mills of Punjab, India. They work for 8-12 h or more daily, during which they face two predominant problems, namely noise and dust. Severe hearing damage and deafness can result due to high noise of the machines in the mills for such prolonged period. Likewise, flour dust during milling and packing operations is dangerous. The present study was conducted to assess the noise levels and dust concentration in wheat milling units at various locations in Punjab. High noise in the flour mills was due to the use of a single power source for running a number of machines and consequent use of long flat belt drive to run them, absence of an electric motor enclosure, poor machine maintenance and inadequate acoustic design of the working zone of the milling units. In case of dust hazard, hopper and flour collection area had higher levels of dust concentration in the milling units.