The glass bangles industry has many health hazards. It usually employs small children. It is illegal to employ very young children in hazardous industries, but certain forces like middlemen, moneylenders, police and politicians combine to entrap the poor workers.
Let us first consider the places where bangle makers work. It is a cottage industry. They work in glass furnaces with high temperatures. The dingy cells are without air and light. Boys and girls work hard during the day next to lines of flames of flickering oil lamps.
They weld pieces of colored glass into circles of bangles. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. That is why they often end up losing their eyesight before they become adults.
Glass blowing, welding, and soldering pieces of glass are all health hazards. Even the dust from polishing the glass of bangles adversely affects the eyes and even adults go blind. Thus, the surroundings, prevailing conditions and the type of job involved all prove risky to the health of the workers.