Safe behavior practices in the sawmill industry of El Salto, Durango, Mexico

Abstract

Although the workers of the sawmill industry from El Salto, Durango, Mexico are exposed to different risks, they have not been evaluated to determine the level of safety. Therefore, the objective of this study was to know the applied of safe behavior practices of workers in the workplaces at 11 sawmills. In order to do this, two checklists generated from the occupational safety and health regulations were applied to evaluate by direct observations of safe and unsafe worker acts. The first checklist was related to use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the second to safety conditions in the workplace. With this information, the percentage of safe behavior and security control graphics were determined; additionally, contingency tables and association tests between categorical Chi-square variables were prepared. The results showed that since only 31 % of the workers use PPE so that the safe behavior practices of the forestry worker are considered very low. Gloves for protection hands were the most used; meanwhile, respiratory and noise protection devices were the least used. Similarly, workplaces safety conditions were considered very low with 36 %. The signage of the work area of fire extinguishers and protection of machinery turned out to be the most critical aspects. It is important to change the unsafe behavior of the workforce to minimize the possibility of injury and accidents.