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20891

Occupational Hazards and Safety in Railways Maintenance

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Last updated: 22 Jan 2023

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Abstract

Occupational hazards typically associated with locomotive and railcar maintenance activities may include physical, chemical, and biological hazards as well as confined space entry hazards. The aim of the present study is to assess the occupational hazards among workers involved in locomotive and railcar maintenance activities and to evaluate Occupational health and safety performance. Physical and chemical hazards are evaluated. On comparing with TLVs. Workers in welding and wood working are exposed to noise of (78.4-102.0) dB (A) with the mean of 90.96 ± 10.6, and (84.0-100.0) dB (A) with the mean of 90.98±6.7, respectively. Although workers in wood working are exposed to insufficient lighting in the range of (100-190) lux with the mean of 140±35.4, workers in thermal station and compressors station are exposed to defective lighting in the range of (60-360) lux with the mean of 164±121.2 and (70-520) lux with the mean of 248±176.8 due to improper light distribution as lighting was only adequate near gates. Exposures to chemical hazards are below the limits except for acid mists in batteries recharging process; this may be due to the limitation of the area in spite of the fact that the area is opened. Other hazards may include the potential for fire and explosion during the conduct of hot work in storage tank systems. Confined spaces may include access to railroad tank and cars during repair and maintenance. The need for improvement of occupational safety and health standards in the unorganized sector assumes very high priority. It is required to provide machinery and equipment which are safe and also to maintain guards in position and working order while a machine or equipment is in use. Specific requirements relating to protective equipment for eyes, for workers entering confined spaces or working at heights have been made. In terms of the administration of the OSH legislations, there has been a lack of educational and awareness effort. The general approach has been to make legislation and expect compliance while the need is for a proactive approach to reach out the persons responsible for compliance through well designed educational/awareness campaigns. Railway maintenance is considered one of the unorganized sectors in Egypt. Data base and health education are recommended.

DOI

10.21608/jhiph.2008.20891

Keywords

Occupational hazards, safety, Railways, maintenance

Authors

First Name

Fadia

Last Name

El-Marakby

MiddleName

Ahmed

Affiliation

Department of Occupational Health and Air Pollution, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria , Egypt

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Orcid

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Volume

38

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

4138

Issue Date

2008-04-01

Receive Date

2018-12-08

Publish Date

2008-04-01

Page Start

344

Page End

353

Print ISSN

2357-0601

Online ISSN

2357-061X

Link

https://jhiphalexu.journals.ekb.eg/article_20891.html

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https://jhiphalexu.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=20891

Order

6

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Journal of High Institute of Public Health

Publication Link

https://jhiphalexu.journals.ekb.eg/

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Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023