Due to the growing number of traffic on roads these days, maintenance of road discipline is quite a difficult job to do. In order  to avoid road accidents and to provide road security to public government hire special police personals which are know as traffic police. They are appointed on roadsides and specially on crowded intersections to direct the flow of traffic. Duty of police cops is not an easy job to do as in most of the countries there duty hours vary from 8 to 12 hours.

Their responsibility is not only to direct traffic as they also have to make sure about road security, they also have to check the licence of vehicles on the road. Special units of traffic police serve at checkposts where they have to check commercial truck licences in order to make sure that illegal transportation of goods is not happening among  cities. 

Workplace hazards faced by traffic police

 There are many factors due to which the job of tarric police officials is not considered  an easy job to do. Not only that their working hours are quite long, they have to stand on their feet all day to perform their duty due to which fatigue and other health issues are common in them.  Risk of accidents are also quite common because any out of control vehicle or rash driving  can injure or even kill them as they are always surrounded with traffic and standing  in between the road.

As they have to deal with common public due to which people misbehave with them like sometimes if traffic police officer found any suspicious number plate and in order to confirm it ask driver to pull up the vehicle , many time people find it irratibale and instead of following the order they curse at them and some time even threaten them. Due to the behavior of irresponsible drivers and long and exhausting hours of duty they also suffer from  mental stress.

Pollution and  its impacts on  traffic cops health

As burning of traffic fuel is one of the main causes of air pollution. When fuel burns in the engine of a vehicle it emits lead, carbon dioxide and other harmful substances which are quite harmful for human health. And traffic police personnel are the people who are impacted by these chemicals the most as they inhale all these harmful gases all day long.

Even though protective masks are provided to them, they are not enough to protect them from constant exposure to harmful gases. Due to which most of the traffic police cops suffer from respiratory disease and according to a study  35% reduced lung functioning rate is noted in them which is higher than the general population which can cause serious health problems and can even cause lung cancer.Not only vehicle emissions but also exposure to dust can also cause respiratory problem like asthma and emphysema.

How to cope with problem?

As it is impossible to avoid the impacts of air pollution due to extensive exposure but certain steps can be taken to make it less health hazardous. Police organizations should provide masks and other protective equipment to traffic police officials. Moreover , there is a need to make an effective shift rotation plan for officials so that they don't  have to stand for too long to avoid issues like fatigue and mental stress.

 Department should also provide regular health checkups for all its personnel and treatment should be free of cost . There is not only need to take steps to deal with physical health issues, the department should also provide professional psychologists in order to help them cope with mental health issues.

Conclusion

Services of the traffic police department are very essential to keep our cities in order because if traffic police personnel are not here to maintain traffic flow it can cause frequent traffic jams and also the number of accidents can increase. That's why it is the responsibility of the police department to make sure of their well being and there is also a need to educate the public to treat them with due respect as they are serving them in such difficult conditions.