Occupational Exposure of Footwear Roughing Dust during Footwear Manufacturing Process

Footwear roughing dust (FRD) is generated from roughing operations involved in footwear manufacturing. The dust is created by the friction of emery paper against the grain surface of finished leather. FRD coming from finished leather is likely to contain chromium, which is widely used for leather processing. Generally, chromium is found in two forms in the leather industry, namely Cr (III) and Cr (VI), of which the latter has an evident and adverse effect on human health. This study aims to identify the major effects of FRD on workers’ health and to find out the correlation with the factors influencing those adverse health effects. In this study, a survey among 30 roughing operators from eight footwear factories in Bangladesh was conducted. The major health effects of FRD are eye irritation, skin itching, chest pain, coughing, and fatigue. This study constructed three hypotheses to investigate whether human health is affected by FRD with working experience, the age of workers, and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). The results showed that working experience and use of PPE have distinct influences on the health effects caused by FRD, whereas workers’ age has no impact on their health effects. Finally, some recommendations are formulated to prevent or mitigate workers’ adverse health effects in order to ensure a better working environment in the footwear industry.