Occupational hazards in medium and large scale industrial sectors in Sri Lanka: experience of a developing country

Occupational hazards is an area where many countries have begun to pay more emphasis as it affects the health of many particularly in developing countries. However, documented literature is scarce in this regard although occupational hazards are common in workplaces. The study was carried out with t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC research notes 2019-11, Vol.12 (1), p.755-755, Article 755
Main Authors: Arnold, S M, Wickrematilake, M S K, Fernando, R M S D, Sampath, H M R C, Karunapema, R P P, Mahesh, P K B, Munasinghe, P M, Denawaka, C J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accident prevention
Data collection
Developing Countries
Factories
GNP
Gross National Product
Hazard control
Health aspects
Health hazards
Housekeeping - standards
Humans
Humidity
Industry
Industry - standards
Laws, regulations and rules
LDCs
Light
Local government
Machinery
Manufacturing
Noise
Noise, Occupational - adverse effects
Occupational accidents
Occupational Exposure - adverse effects
Occupational Exposure - standards
Occupational hazards
Occupational health
Occupational Health - standards
Raw materials
Research Note
Safety Management - standards
Sri Lanka
Temperature
Ventilation
Ventilation - standards
Work stations
Workers
Workplace - standards
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Summary:Occupational hazards is an area where many countries have begun to pay more emphasis as it affects the health of many particularly in developing countries. However, documented literature is scarce in this regard although occupational hazards are common in workplaces. The study was carried out with the objective of describing the physical hazards and control measures adopted in the formal medium and large-scale industrial sector in Sri Lanka. Of the 69 units of the 25 factories, physical hazards detected in the workplaces were; excessive noise (78.3%), poor light (58%), increased temperature (65.2%), and poor ventilation (68.1%). Over 50% of large machinery and 33% of medium-scale machinery were not adequately guarded. Nearly 41% of the machinery were difficult to operate, of them 36.2% had controls in positions which were hard to reach. Of safety measures adopted, only 34.8% had proper demarcation of areas with 28.9% displaying safety signs. Housekeeping was poor in 59.4% and less than 40% had safe storage of raw materials and end products.
ISSN:1756-0500
1756-0500
DOI:10.1186/s13104-019-4790-2