OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS

Abstract

Work accidents and occupational diseases are one of the most important problems of professional life. Today, many workers in different sectors around the world are losing their lives due to work accidents and occupational diseases. Work accidents and occupational diseases are still a serious issue in Turkey, and it is clear that legal regulations are not enough to prevent work accidents and to inform people about the hazards. In this respect, education and creating awareness is of vital importance regarding the existing hazards in all sectors. Despite the changes in occupational risks in many sectors, workers are still expected to have a certain level of knowledge and awareness in terms of prevention of work accidents and occupational diseases. At this point, the aim of this research is to determine the occupational health and safety perception of the students of Technical Sciences Vocational School in Turkey, which trains intermediate staff for industry. For this purpose, safety education, safety communication, safety awareness and fatalism scales were used to determine the security perceptions of 448 students who were active students in 2017. As a result of the analyses, the students’ perception of occupational health and safety was elaborated and recommendations were made to create a healthy and safe working environment and to illuminate and enlighten the regulations for further development of students’ awareness on occupational health and safety.