Occupational Safety, Health and Working Environment in Garment Production
This domain tests whether you can recognise legal safety duties, machine guarding rules, electrical and fire precautions, ergonomics and housekeeping practice on a sewing floor. Questions here are usually scenario-based: what do you do first, and what is forbidden.
Statutory and machine safety
- The Factories Act, 1948 is the base law: fencing of machinery, no cleaning of machinery in motion, no young person on dangerous machines without training and supervision, lighting and ventilation standards, first-aid provision.
- Needle guards and eye guards are safety devices, not optional extras. Removing one to increase speed is a violation, not a shortcut.
- Before any adjustment, threading, or needle change: switch off at the isolator, unplug, and confirm the machine cannot start. Switching off at the panel button alone is not isolation.
Fire and electrical
- Live electrical equipment needs a non-conducting agent: CO2 or dry powder. Water creates a shock path.
- Report frayed cords, damaged plugs, daisy-chained extension boards and missing earth. Do not repair electrical work yourself.
- Oily rags, lint and paper must not collect near motors or junction boxes.
Health, ergonomics and housekeeping
- Good illumination at the needle (roughly 300-500 lux), local exhaust for lint, and clean filters reduce eye strain and respiratory risk.
- Operator posture: feet flat, elbows near 90 degrees, work surface at elbow height, anti-fatigue mat, short micro-breaks.
- 5S discipline: clear aisles, blades into a sharps box, shears closed when carried, no fabric stacked on the floor.
Worked example
A socket sparks at a lockstitch station and a small flame appears. Correct sequence: raise the alarm, isolate the circuit, use a CO2 extinguisher, evacuate if it spreads, report and get the circuit checked. Reasoning: the fire is electrical, so the first priorities are de-energising and using a non-conducting agent; water or foam would add a shock hazard and can spread burning material.
Traps that cost marks
Using compressed air to blow lint off a machine (drives it into eyes and lungs), assuming a machine switched off at the button is safe to thread, and treating PPE as a substitute for guarding rather than a last resort.