An experimental design application for the performance of occupational safety specialists in applying risk assessment methods

This study was conducted to investigate the performance of occupational safety specialists in applying risk assessment methods in occupational health and safety risk assessment studies. In addition, the current status of occupational safety specialists in evaluating the effectiveness of risk control measures and the reasons for the differences between occupational safety specialists in risk assessment practices were investigated. Since there is no similar study in the literature on the risk assessment performance of occupational safety specialists and the determination of the differences between experts, this study has the potential to make a significant contribution to the scientific literature. In addition, it is important in terms of determining the current success performance of occupational safety experts in risk assessment in our country. The study was conducted with the participation of a total of 107 Class A, B, and C occupational safety specialists working in the occupational safety sector in various provinces in Turkey. The occupational safety specialists participating in the study were asked to risk assess two hazard scenarios related to occupational accidents and occupational diseases with Fine-Kinney and L Type Matrix risk assessment methods commonly used in occupational safety, and the results obtained were analyzed in SPSS Statistics 28.0 program. As a result of the analysis of the data obtained, it was determined that the risk assessment performance of occupational safety specialists was not sufficient and the effectiveness of risk control measures could not be evaluated in a healthy way. It has been revealed that the most important reason for the subjective differences between experts in risk assessment is the education level of occupational safety experts.