Need of Protective Work-Wear for Workers of Indian Cement

• November 2021

• Project: 
• Development of Cement Work wear

• Shweta Saxena
• M. S. Parmar
• Sangita Saini
• Vasundhara Verma

Cement demand is closely linked to country's economic development, particularly in the infrastructure and housing businesses. The main growth factors for the cement industry are higher government spending on infrastructure and housing and increasing per capita income. This study aims to review and analyze the current status of cement industry with respect to the risks associated with the health of the workers involved. This study aims to provide guidelines,on how to control and on the areas to be focused by the employer for their better health and safety performance. Not only is it dangerous to work with dry cement, even wet cement can damage the skin because it is caustic, abrasive, and extracts moisture from the skin. India is world's second largest cement producer, and the demand for cement is further increasing due to its various applications.There are no specific protective work wear standards in India for the cement workers. The available work wear is inadequate to protect the workers from the dry or wet cement. Thousands of cement workers work under difficult hot, cold and humid climatic conditions without any protective work wear. This results in multiple health problems at the workplace. The present paper stresses on the need of a safe work wear for cement workers in India.

 Quantification of blend ratio of cotton and hemp blended fabric: A new approach

• M. S. Parmar, 
• Indu Gupta, 
• Shalini Juneja

• February 2022
• Journal of the Textile Association 82/4(Nov-Dec 2021)

Cotton is one of the main members of the cellulose fibre family. With the advent of technology and research, members of the cellulose family are increasing. Some of the examples of recently developed cellulose fibres are hemp, banana, and ramie. These fibres are usually blended with cotton to provide some unique properties. At present, no standard method is available to quantify these fibres in a blend. In the present study, moisture regains properties of fibres were used to quantify the blend ratio of cotton and hemp fibers. Various fibre ratios were used to blend the fibres. The presence of these fibres in the blend was identified using FTIR spectral study. Under various humidity and temperature conditions, the moisture regains of these blends was determined with the standard test method. A calibration curve was plotted between blend percentage of fibres and corresponding moisture regain. Based on the calibration curve, the blend ratio of unknown cotton-hemp blends was determined.

 Dyeing of surface-modified cotton with disperse dye to conserve water: Preliminary study

• February 2022
• Asian Dyer December 2021- January 2022:24-27
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Textile processing is one of the largest and oldest industries worldwide and is responsible for substantial resource consumption and pollution. This paper discussed two approaches (Process-I and Process-II) towards the conservation of water in the wet processing of cotton fabric. In these new approaches, the surface of cotton yarn and fabric was modified using a resin followed by dyeing using disperse dye. In these new approaches, there is no need for pretreatment of the cotton fabric before dyeing which can save a significant amount of water, energy, and other chemicals along with cost benefits. A solid dyeing effect has been achieved on cotton fabric using Process-I. Process-II provided a denim fading look on the cotton fabric.