Background: Garment workers face several ergonomic stressors due to poor physical work environment.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the health status of workers and the applied safety measures in the garment industry.

Subjects and Methods: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted at Miser Spinning and Weaving Company (MSWC) in El Mahala El Kobra City, Gharbyia Governorate, Egypt. The study included 350 female garment workers and an equal number of 350 administrative female workers as comparative group. An interview questionnaire was filled to collect required data. The latest edition of the Occupational Safety and Health Inspection Checklist (2016) was used and filled by the researcher to check safety measures available and applied in the workplace environment.

Results: The mean age of exposed workers was 41.8+6.65 years with a mean duration of work of 20.80±10.368. More than half of exposed (58.6%) were sewing machine operators. Most of exposed workers (83.5%) suffered from musculoskeletal disorders compared to 60.9% of non-exposed workers, while 72.9% of exposed workers suffered from occular disorders compared to 54.9% of non exposed workers. Environmental measurements in the workplace revealed that noise measurements were within the permissible levels with a mean of 70.9±10.4 and 76.3±8.9 dB in factory 1 and 2 respectively. Light measurements were with a mean of 328.25±152.8 lux and 466.5±303.9 lux in factory 1 and 2 respectively.

Conclusion: The most frequent health problems among garment workers were musculoskeletal disorders and occular problems.

Recommendations: Periodic ergonomic risk assessment of the workplace. Periodic health education and training of workers about ergonomic issues related to their work