Perception of Occupational and Environmental Risks and Hazards among Mineworkers: A Psychometric Paradigm Approach

Mahmaod Alrawad,Mohammed Amin Almaiah,Abdalwali Lutfi,Sundus Alyatama,Ibrahim A Elshaer

doi:10.3390/ijerph19063371

Abstract

This study aims to assess workers’ perception of occupational and environmental risks and hazards using the psychometric paradigm. For this purpose, data were collected using survey questionnaires from 360 mineworkers recruited from mineral and sand mines. Respondents were asked to evaluate eight occupational and environmental risks and hazards on nine commonly used risk characteristics. The principal component analysis revealed that two components, “Dreaded” and “Unknown”, explained 73% percent of the total variance in workers’ risk perception. The results also showed that the risk of developing an occupational disease was perceived as the most dreaded and unknown type of risk, while landslide, occupational noise, and vibration exposure were the least familiar to the respondents. A practical implication of this research is that the results may offer an insight into the employees’ perceptions of the hazards and risks associated with their working environment. This could help risk management develop and implement effective risk management and communications strategies.

Highlights

IntroductionWorking in the mining and quarrying sector is often considered one of the most dangerous occupations [1,2]
The present study extended the recent research on occupational and environmental risk perception by evaluating mineworkers’ risk perception using the psychometric paradigm
Following the introduction of the psychometric analysis, the principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was used on the aggregated data to reduce risk characteristics and identify the most relevant risk factors

Summary

Introduction

Working in the mining and quarrying sector is often considered one of the most dangerous occupations [1,2]. Law regulation, health, and safety worldwide have pressurized the mining industry to develop and deploy new strategies to reduce accidents and fatalities [3]. In. Europe, for instance, the code of practice includes risk management and assessment as mandatory requirements for plant safety and storage of hazardous chemicals [4]. For instance, the code of practice includes risk management and assessment as mandatory requirements for plant safety and storage of hazardous chemicals [4] This trend has directed the mining industry to prioritize occupational health and safety and to comprise various forms of risk assessment and management systems in their operations.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion