Personal Hygiene in the Use of Pesticides and Availability of Clean Water Sanitation Rice Farmers in Nagari IV Koto Hilie, Batang Kapas District

Abstract

A farmer is someone who works in the agricultural sector by cultivating the land to grow and maintain plants in order to obtain results to meet their needs. Farmers' work productivity is influenced by several factors including individual characteristics of farmers, use of pesticides. Personal hygiene is the practice of maintaining personal hygiene that is carried out to maintain health before, during, and after work. Workers' personal hygiene is very important to prevent the spread of disease-causing microorganisms, reduce exposure to hazardous chemicals and contaminants, and prevent skin allergies, skin disorders, and sensitivity to chemicals. Maintaining hand hygiene can be done by washing hands regularly before eating, after handling animals, after defecating, and other situations that allow germs to stick to the skin. Around 12% of reported cases of work-related diseases are skin diseases, with the highest prevalence in the informal sector such as fishermen and farmers. The method used in this study is descriptive, the research sample was 90 rice farmers. The results of this study indicate that the percentage of rice farmers in the bad category was 43 respondents with a percentage of 47.78% and the good category was 47 respondents with a percentage of 52.22%. Poor personal hygiene can increase the risk of skin diseases, especially contact dermatitis, due to pesticide exposure. Farmers who do not maintain personal hygiene, such as not washing their hands after contact with pesticides or not changing their work clothes, are more susceptible to skin problems. It can be concluded that the personal hygiene of rice farmers is good.