A study on occupational health and safety perceptions of underground and surface coal mine workers: The case of Edirne province

The aim of this study is to examine the levels of occupational health and safety (OHS) culture among workers in the mining sector based on various demographic characteristics. The study was designed using quantitative research methods. The sample of the study consisted of 168 participants working in a private coal mine operating in the Edirne province. A demographic information form and the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Culture Scales developed by Zeynep Feride OLCAY were employed as data collection tools in this research. The normality of the variables was assessed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test. Variables that deviated from a normal distribution were summarized using their median, minimum, and maximum values. The "Mann-Whitney U" test was applied to examine differences between two groups, whereas the "Kruskal-Wallis H" test was used for analyzing differences among three or more groups. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 software, with the significance level established at 0.05 According to the findings, the general occupational safety awareness levels of the participants showed statistically significant differences based on gender. The general occupational safety awareness, OHS training-communication, and occupational health and safety culture levels of the participants showed statistically significant differences based on their education levels and the type of mine they worked in. Additionally, the risk perception levels of the participants showed statistically significant differences based on the number of OHS training sessions they received, while their OHS training-communication levels exhibited statistically significant differences based on their history of workplace accidents.