Occupational Health Hazards in Traffic Force

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume II, Issue VII, July 2018 | ISSN 2454-6186

Occupational Health Hazards in Traffic Force

Dr. Rasmi Mishra

Chief Product Innovation Officer, Symple Wellness Platform Pvt. Ltd

I. PROBLEM STATEMENT

Police officers play an important role in the society by ensuring security. A physically and mentally fit police force is necessary to tackle the increasing law and order problems in our society.

Unfortunately, available studies indicate that police officers have an increased risk of certain diseases related to their occupation and lifestyle. The prevalence of occupational health hazards was reported to be high among police officers. There are various studies been conducted on Indian Policewhich shows that occupational stress is very high among the police personnel in India. Following are some of the occupational Health hazards observed in Police Departments,

• Stress: Usually they live under constant apprehension of physical danger, work long and irregular hours and are exposed to unpleasant sides of life. This often results in psychological stress, family and personality problems.

• Lifestyle Diseases: Hypertension, diabetes, acute coronary syndromes, obesity and even cancer are some of the major chronic health diseases commonly observed due to their hectic and stressful lifestyle, irregular diet, consumption of fast foods while on duty, distorted sleep

• Skin & Eye Problems: Develop various skin and eye problems as a result of spending most of their time outdoors, including under the sun or in bad weather and over exposure to bright and sunlight

• Sleep Disorder: Since police force has to work in overnight shifts for long days,there is a high prevalence of sleep disorders with symptoms of insomnia and excessive sleepiness among them

• Physical Problems: Exposure to ambient environmental factors (low or high air temperatures, rain, wind, snow, sun) resulting in acute (common cold, heat stroke, dehydration, etc.) or chronic (rheumatism , etc.) disease

• Auditory Problems: Exposure to high noise levels from the emergency horn or on the firing range

• Musculoskeletal Disorders: Long periods of time spent inside vehicles may in the course of time result in musculoskeletal disorders (esp. low-back pains)

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