Occupational health, safety & environmental management activities in an automative factory in Adana

Ulviye POLAT, Muhsin AKBABA

Objective: It was found that an Occupational Health and Safety System which can be taken as an example by other factories is being applied in an automotive factory in Adana. Our study was planned to analyze these practices in terms of the health of the workers and share the findings.

Methods: Our study, which is definitive and cross-sectional, was prepared by analyzing the records of the last 10 years and the outcomes of the face-to-face interviews in the enterprise.

Findings: 2055 workers work in the factory. The occupational health and safety and environmental management system which was established in line with the principles of Japan-5S in 1987 has gradually reached the contemporary development understanding. The enterprise obtained the license of OHSAS 180001 “Occupational Health and Safety Management System in 2004 and ISO 14001 “Environmental Management System” in 2005 and always acted with the principle of continuous improvement in the field of environment, occupational health and safety and security. The factory is managed with an approach that places emphasis on effective waste management designed with the principles of reducing the consumption of natural resources and applying systems of recycling occupational health and safety and compliance with all kinds of legislation concerning occupational health and safety.

Conclusion: In the light of these findings, it can be concluded that the “Occupational Health and Safety System” applied in this risk-intensive factory in line with the principle of “Occupational Health and Safety & Environmental Management System” should be taken as a model in all industrial sectors and applied after it is tailored to the peculiar conditions and needs of respective enterprises.