Determining the Occupational Health and Safety of Workers in The Food Manufacturing Sector of Pakistan

Background: For organizations, conducting work in a safe environment has become mandatory under the provisions and guidelines provided by international and local laws. Occupational health and safety (OHS) standards have become a requisite in almost every industry these days; however, many organizations in developing countries are negligent at adhering to the safety measures, and there is also an absence of proper monitoring. Objective: Our objective was to determine the occupational health and safety standards that are prevailing in the food manufacturing sector of Pakistan. For this, we approached several food manufacturing companies and conducted interviews with quality assurance managers and health and safety executives to evaluate and analyze the workplace conditions to understand their OHS practices. Methods: We conducted 7 interviews with quality assurance managers in the food manufacturing and services companies of Pakistan. The interview guide was used for eliciting responses and a coding method was used to arrive at the themes of the data gathered. Results: The interviews conducted with quality assurance managers and those working to ensure that safety measures are practiced in their company, showed that the export-oriented food manufacturing companies in Pakistan are following OHS standards, as it has become a necessity, with numerous benefits such as ensuring worker safety, maintaining company reputation. However, the extent to which these measures are implemented and strictly followed varies, as there are certain issues that arise when companies try to follow and implement OHS practices The problems vary from company to company however, most of them relate to worker adaptability, costs, and training needs.  OHS situation in local firms is concerning. Most of them do not have HSE officers, not the concept of toolbox talk, no preventive and safety measures.  These poor practices make the situation unsafe, which lead to fatalities Conclusion: By establishing a national framework for policies and legislations as per the conventions of ILO for a better workplace environment along with proper law enforcement improvement in occupational health and safety domain can be achieved.      

Influence of Exogenous Appl Icat Ion of Sal Icyl Ic Acid on Physiological and Biochemical Attributes of Sunflower Hel Ianthus Annuus L. under Sal Inity Stress

To examine whether salicylic acid (SA) can mitigate the deleterious effects of salt stress on vegetative and reproductive development in sunflower, a greenhouse experiment was conducted. The treatments consisted of two sunflower lines (Hysun-33 and SF-187), two salt levels (0 mM and 120 mM NaCl), three doses of salicylic acid (0, 100, 200, and 300 mgL -1 ) and four replicates arranged in a completely randomized design. Varying NaCl levels were raised at day 19 and SA was applied foliarly at day 24 after sowing. The growth and development of the sunflower lines was significantly affected under salinity stress. However, foliar spray of 200 mg L -1 of SA resulted in improved growth and achene yield. In addition, salt-induced reduction in achene yield and improvement in achene yield with SA application in both sunflower lines was found to be attributable to alteration in the size of both achene and capitulum. Photosynthetic rate of both lines increased due to foliar applied SA both under normal and salt regimes, specifically in line SF-187. Moreover, net CO 2 assimilation rate was enhanced by 200 mg L -1 SA applied exogenously under salt treatment, which was positively associated with SA-induced increase in growth and yield. However, SA-induced changes in photosynthesis were not associated with stomatal conductance, but partially associated with photosynthetic pigments. Salt stress up-regulated the activities of leaf superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) in both sunflower lines. The SOD and POD activities were further improved both in stressed and non-stressed plants due to applied 1SA. However, the activity of leaf CAT was found to be unaffected due to SA applied exogenously. specifically being prominent in SF-187. In addition, SA-induced improvement in growth and photosynthetic performance in both lines was probably due to up-regulation in peroxidase activity caused by SA. Exogenously applied SA restricted the sunflower lines to absorb higher quantity of Na + in their leaf tissues under saline conditions. The foliar applied SA induced both sunflower lines to absorb higher quantity of Ca 2+ in their leaves and roots, notwithstanding, K + accumulation remained almost un- affected under salt stress. In addition, SA application also caused accumulation of high amount of proline by the plants of both sunflower lines grown under saline substrate. Salt stress considerably reduced both achene oil quantity and quality of both sunflower lines. Contrarily, foliar applied SA caused improvement in achene oil percentage as well as quality of achene oil in terms of linolenic acid in both sunflower lines. Exogenous application of SA did not alter palmitic acid, stearic acid or oleic acid. Overall, salt tolerance in sunflower could be improved by foliar application of SA.