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.      

Engineering Salt and Drought Tolerance in Cotton Gossypium Hirsutum L.

In the modern era of agricultural crop production, commercial applications of crop inputs and industrial activities have increased salt concentrations in our soil and water resources making them toxic for growing crops. During abiotic stresses, plants employ several strategies, among which salt pumping and compartmentalization into intracellular organelles (lumen of vacuole) is a major strategy. The present study involved the development of transgenic cotton cv. coker-312 tolerant to salt and drought stress. In the first part of the study, silicon carbide whisker mediated cotton callitransformationmethod was established using GUS and AVP1 gene. Fertile transgenic plants were produced from embryogenic calli of four events. PCR and southern hybridization of kanamycin resistant putative AVP1 embryogenic calli showedthe presence andstable integration of transgenes in 1-4 copies in the genome. Results of the salt tolerance study of T1AVP1transgenic cotton showed significantly greater salt tolerance at 200mM NaCl than nontransformed control plants. Moreover, transgenes segregate in a Mendelian fashion indicated the authenticity of the method. In the second part of the study, AtNHX1 gene was cloned underthe control of double CaMV 35S promoter and terminatorin plant transformation vector pGA482.Agrobacterium tumefaciensharboringAVP1 and AtNHX1 genes were used to inoculate coker-312 hypocotyls. Putative transgenic kanamycin resistant calli of different events were produced and putative regenerated transgenic plants were obtained. The Overall transformation efficiency was 20-25 %. Regenerated T0plants were grown to maturity in the containment for getting selfed T0seeds and subsequently T1 and T2 seeds. PCR and Southern analyses showed the presence and genomic integration of 1-4 copies ofthe AVP1 and AtNHX1genes. Northern analyses/cDNA analyses showed transcripts of transgenes in the transgenic plants. Transgenic plants (T2) having AVP1and AtNHX1genes verified by PCR were exposed to salt studies executed with AVP1 transgenic in both hydroponic as well as in pots while plants having AtNHX1 gene were exposed only in pots. After 4-6 weeks of germination, NaCl was applied in solutions up to 200 mM. Transgenic plants showedsignificantlyhigher accumulation of Na+, K+, total free amino acids, proline, total soluble sugars and higher nitrate reductase activities than non-transformed control plants. A water stress study was performed on AVP1 T2 transgenic cotton after two weeks and 8-10 weeks of germination in pots. Stress was applied by withholding water for upto 10 days. Results revealed that transgenic AVP1 plants have significantly high water contents and low water potentials with less square shedding, retain high number of bolls than non-transformed control plants. Photosynthesis rate was significantly higher in transgenic (AVP1/AtNHX1) cotton progenies than non-transformed control plants. Transgenic cotton also showed significantlybetter growth and yield when compared with non-transformed plants. Fiber analyses by scanning electron microscopy and HV1 indicated that fiber of transgenic plant were healthy with uniform twisting in contrast to weak and shriveled fiber of the nontransformed control plants. Transgenic plants hadhigh fiber strength, length and low mic value than non-transformed control cotton plants respectively. Transgenic germplasm developed in present study might be useful for its application in cotton breeding program aiming salt/drought tolerance in cotton cultivars.