Source: International Journal ofOccupational Safety and Ergonomics (JOSE)

This paper reviews the role andimportance of small-scale industries together with the issue of occupationalhealth problems and their causes in Iranian hand-woven carpet industry as atypical informal small-scale industry in an industrially developing country.The objective of this paper is to review health risk factors and relatedoccupational health and ergonomic problems in the carpet industry. Since theoverwhelming majority of weavers' health problems originate from ergonomic riskfactors, it is concluded that any improvement program in this industry shouldfocus on ergonomic aspects. To assess ergonomic conditions in weavingworkshops, a checklist has been developed and an ergonomics index indicatingthe ergonomic conditions of the workshop has been proposed. To test and verifythe checklist, 50 weaving workshops were visited and their ergonomic conditionswere assessed. Based on the results some modifications were made and thechecklist was shown to be an effective tool.

1. Introduction

Small-scale industries are a widespread, fundamental and essential form of production ^[1]. In many countries,small-scale industries are the main providers of new employment. In addition, theseindustries play an outstanding part in economic development of countries by producing export products.

In developing countries, greatefforts are directed towards encouraging the development of small-scaleindustries as the engine for the growth of their economies ^[2]. Inthese countries, small-scale industries employ a high percentage of the workforce and comprise a high percentage of all industries. Small-scale industrieshave been estimated to employ 45-95% of the work force in developing countries ^[3].

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About the Authors

Alireza Choobineh and MohammadaliLahmi areassociated with School of Public Health and Institute of Public Health Research,Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Teheran, I.R. Iran and HoushangShahnavaz is associated with Division of Industrial Ergonomics, LuleaUniversity of Technology, Lulea, Sweden