Investigation of the awareness and attitudes of greenhouse sector workers on occupational health and safety

With the increase in world population the decrease in food supply is getting an important problem. To overcome this problem the development of agricultural sector seems to be significant. Greenhouses, which also give opportunities to comparably controlled production, would have an effective role. In Turkey, greenhouses mostly occupy in Mediterranean Region, Antalya has the biggest share. However, greenhouse industry is growing faster which brings some problems together with. In greenhouse industry, production efficiency is more important, mostly occupational health and safety of the workers is at the second place. But, everyday works conducted in greenhouses have some danger and risks. In this study, the awareness and attitudes of greenhouse workers at Antalya central district on occupational health and safety measurement that required to be taken are tried to be determined by a survey. 179 of interviews, was performed by face to face, have questions about biological, chemical, physical, mechanical, psycho-social and health concerns. The data was analyzed by using SPSS program. Greenhouses are usually small businesses with family members of low education level and middle-aged. Perception of greenhouse workers was generally high except issues related to mechanical and psycho-social. However, attitudes of greenhouse workers on danger and risk due to everyday works were not favourable as their awareness and most of the time they were negligent to take necessary precautions. In order to change the attitudes of greenhouse workers, application of a continuous training program and closely following are important for occupational health and safety of sector's workers. The sector should be evaluated at all aspects and the necessary steps for occupational health and safety should be taken.