Open AccessJob safety analysis and hazard identification for work accident prevention in para rubber wood sawmills in southern Thailand
Author(s) -
Thepaksorn Phayong,
Thongjerm Supawan,
Incharoen Salee,
Siriwong Wattasit,
Harada Kouji,
Koizumi Akio
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of occupational health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 1348-9585
DOI - 10.1539/joh.16-0204-cs
Subject(s) - occupational safety and health , personal protective equipment , environmental health , risk assessment , hazard , grading (engineering) , hazard analysis , work (physics) , medicine , engineering , civil engineering , computer science , computer security , mechanical engineering , chemistry , disease , organic chemistry , covid-19 , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , aerospace engineering
Objective We utilized job safety analysis (JSA) and hazard identification for work accident prevention in Para rubber wood sawmills, which aimed to investigate occupational health risk exposures and assess the health hazards at sawmills in the Trang Province, located in southern Thailand. Methods We conducted a cross‐sectional study which included a walk‐through survey, JSA, occupational risk assessment, and environmental samplings from March through September 2015 at four Para rubber wood sawmills. Results We identified potential occupational safety and health hazards associated with six main processes, including: 1) logging and cutting, 2) sawing the lumber into sheets, 3) planing and rearranging, 4) vacuuming and wood preservation, 5) drying and planks rearranging, and 6) grading, packing, and storing. Working in sawmills was associated with high risk of wood dust and noise exposure, occupational accidents injuring hands and feet, chemicals and fungicide exposure, and injury due to poor ergonomics or repetitive work. Discussion Several high‐risk areas were identified from JSA and hazard identification of the working processes, especially high wood dust and noise exposure when sawing lumber into sheets and risk of occupational accidents of the hands and feet when struck by lumber. All workers were strongly recommended to use personal protective equipment in any working processes. Exposures should be controlled using local ventilation systems and reducing noise transmission. We recommend that the results from the risk assessment performed in this study be used to create an action plan for reducing occupational health hazards in Para rubber sawmills.