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[Bambooman]

Morning all.
I came across this recently I thought I'd share it within our community- It's worth highlighting I think.
It's a study on the working conditions of a large sample of bat factories in Kashmir.

Link:http://www.idosi.org/mejsr/mejsr5(3)/4.pdf

"Abstract: The purpose of the present study is to investigate the general working conditions of the workers of
cricket bat industry of Kashmir (India) and to assess the health risk factors of the workers working in this
industry. The study has been conducted in ten cricket bat industries of Kashmir valley situated in India.
The prepared questionnaire was circulated among workers to assess the health risk factors of these workers.
Noise level, temperature and dust concentration in air were measured with the help of sound level meter,
thermo-hygrometer and  handheld air sampler, respectively. The present investigation indicates that the majority
of the workers of this industry were illiterate. Most of them were suffering from health problems like eye
irritation, injuries, difficulty in hearing, back pain, allergies, respiratory problems and general weakness.
The presented results demonstrate that the health and working conditions of the workers in cricket bat
industries in Kashmir (India) were found to be unsatisfactory. Every worker on an average suffered from 3-5
health-risk factors. Personal protective equipment should be provided to the workers to reduce the risk factors."

It also give a figure for the average price of a bat manufactured there...
"The cricket bat manufacturing industry in Kashmir employs more than 10,000 people and collectively exports more than 1 million cricket bats per year, with a price range of $3-12 per bat....."