Even though India’s cotton textile industry is a major contributor to the worldwide production of textiles, workplace hazard exposure in the cotton textile industry has been associated with many deleterious health outcomes. As part of an effort to generate relevant information, a study was conducted to evaluate the workplace environment for dust, noise, and heat stress levels in a cross-section of textile units in the state of Tamil Nadu. Previously a comprehensive job-exposure profile for textile workers in south India has not been compiled. The situation in tanneries is similar to this. The tanning industry in India represents one of the oldest traditional occupational sectors. Having been predominantly a cottage industry, operating out of small to medium scale establishments in rural settings, it has been only in the last few decades that it has moved in the direction of being an industry in the organized sector. Most tanneries operate out of premises lacking even the most basic facilities required for a safe work environment. Therefore a systematic study have been undertaken to establish the status of occupational safety and health in these tanneries. These two studies, closed in 2000 and 2002, submit a good overview of the work conditions in cotton textile and tannery industries.
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