Evaluation of occupational health and safety practices in vegetable oil production facility in terms of physical risk factors

Ensuring the health and safety of workers has become one of the most important problems as a result of industrialization. Work accidents and occupational diseases not only endanger people's health but also cause significant loss of service. Ways to reduce this situation include continuous training and a healthy working environment. By integrating an institutional and systematic structure into businesses, the number of work accidents and occupational diseases in our country can be significantly reduced. In this context, as an exemplary model, healthy working conditions in a factory environment can be considered in terms of some important physical risk factors. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the working environment conditions in a vegetable oil production facility comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Law standards in terms of some physical risk factors. Physical risk factors measured in the study are respirable dust, lighting, thermal comfort, noise, and vibration. The research was conducted on 125 workers working in 3 shifts within 24 hours with an 8-hour working time. It has been determined that the measurements of five important physical risk factors in the work environment comply with legal standards. These results confirm our opinion that facilities operating with an institutional and systematic management system can minimize the number of work accidents and occupational diseases.