Investigation of physical and chemical environmental factors within the scope occupational health and safety for a foundry - precautions in resource, environment and affected people

The casting industry is one of the areas where job related accidents and sickness are most evident due to raw materials, processes and waste. The aim of this study is to measure dust, noise, solvent vapor, heavy metal concentration in the air and exposed temperature in the core and paint shops and evaluate the results in terms of occupational health and safety. Measurements were done according to the methods mentioned in the Turkish Standards and results were compared with the limits stated in the literature. DMEA gas which is used as a catalyser in the core shops was sampled and measured for exposure analysis. Chemicals, like toluene, ethyl benzene, xylene and benzene resulting from dyes and thinners, were measured from the exposed people working in the paint shops, in which butanol, lead and zinc were measured also in the same environment. Precautions which are needed in order to decrease dust, noise and thermal exposure results to the threshold limits in the core and paint shops were discussed for the resources, environment and people affected.