Semi-quantitative risk assessment for workers exposed to occupational harmful agents in an oilfield in Iran

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Workers are exposed to occupational health hazards from physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, and psychological agents. Assessing occupational health risks is vital for executing control measures to protect employees‘ health against harmful occupational agents. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to identify, evaluate, and prioritize occupational health risks to assist senior management in determining where to allocate the budget to carry out the required corrective actions in the oilfields project. METHODS: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was performed in 2021 among Iran’s Sarvak Azar oil field job groups. The occupational health risk was assessed using the Harmful Agents Risk Priority Index (HARPI) as a semi-quantitative method. Then, to simplify decision-making and budget allocation, we reported HARPI final score in the Pareto principle format. RESULTS: The results show that in this oil field, controlling exposure to adverse lighting, improving the thermal conditions and ergonomics, and preventing noise exposure has the highest priority, with scores of 6342, 5269, 5629, and 5050, respectively. Production, HSE, laboratory, and commissioning need the most health care measures with scores of 8683, 5815, 5394, and 4060, respectively. CONCLUSION: HARPI could be used to prioritize occupational health hazards, and this method can simplify managers’ decisions to allocate resources to implement control measures.