INDUSTRIAL VISIT TO MALABAR CEMENT FACTORY
Industrial visits provide the students with an opportunity to learn practically through interaction, working methods, employment practices & health hazards to the workers. In many countries more than half of workers are employed in the informal sector with no social protection for seeking health care and lack of regulatory enforcement of occupational health and safety standards. Occupational health services to advise employers on improving working conditions and monitoring the health of workers . Work-related health problems result in an economic loss of 4–6% of GDP for most countries.
As a part of community health nursing requirement the 4th year students of Nehru college of Nursing had got an opportunity to visit Malabar cement factory Walayar on 28th July 2022. Malabar Cements was incorporated in April 1978. The Limestone mine is located at Pandarathu hills inside the Walayar reserve forest about 9 km from the Walayar plant. The unit at Walayar, with a production capacity of 6.6 lakh MT per annum, is the largest. The aim of this visit was to assess the health risks at the workplace, chances for occupational disease, protective measures used, health insurance schemes available & psychological stress faced to the workers. This was a one day program & after the visit the students gained information regarding how to secure the health of workers, safety and welfare of employees and other people at work; the ways to protect the public from the health and safety risks of business activities & to eliminate workplace risks at the source. The visit was really comprehensive & the students became scholars in the field of occupational health which will offer them a greater skill & practice in their future professional life.
