OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional study was conducted in palm oil mills to determine the knowledge, attitude, and perception (KAP) concerning the risk management of steam boilers among workers in palm oil mills.
METHODS: A total of 50 workers who were working with steam boilers and/or involved in managing the operation of steam boilers with at least three years of working experience in the palm oil industry were purposively sampled. A self-administrated questionnaire consisting of four main parts - socio-demographic and occupational information, knowledge, attitude, and perception of the risk management of steam boilers was distributed. The knowledge, attitude, and perception were calculated based on a Likert-type scale.
RESULTS: This study found that 56% of boiler workers had a good level of knowledge (mean score = 77.22±19.6), 72% had a good attitude toward risk (mean score = 83.17±5.85), and 64% had a good perception of risk (mean score = 79.50±11.22). The prevalence of accidents was 16%, and, for near misses, it was 24%. The cause of the reported accidents was largely attributed to carelessness, specifically at 80%. Apart from that, there was a positive association (χ2 = 6.56; p = 0.010) between attitude and accidents.
CONCLUSION: This study found that the workers had good KAP levels of risk management of steam boilers in palm oil mills. However, there is a need for the employers to revise the training of workers and ensure its effectiveness in heightening the awareness of risks and accidents despite the high level of KAP.
OBJECTIVE: Given the unpopularity of the current hard hat, the general perception of workers concerning its use and its measurements are the determining factors in the development of a new hard hat.
METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted in which 132 male oil palm harvesters between 19 and 60 years of age were selected from among the employees of the same oil palm harvesting company. A set of questionnaires was developed to collect their socio-demographic information as well as their perceptions of comfort and the prevalence of head injury. In addition, a set of measuring instruments, including Martin's anthropometry set, was used for head measurement and data collection in respect of the current hard hat. In this research, six respondents were randomly selected to attend an interview session for qualitative assessment.RESULTSBased on the questionnaires, the unpopularity in the use of the hard hat was largely influenced by factors related to poor design, in general, and, specifically, poor ventilation (64%), load (67% ), and physical discomfort (42% ). The measurements of the anthropometric parameters and the dimensions of the hard hat also showed a significant mismatch.
CONCLUSION: The unpopularity of the current hard hat among oil palm harvesters stemmed from the discomfort from wearing, which showed that the development of a new hard hat could lead to better usage and the greater likelihood of wearing a hard hat throughout the working day.