Abstract

Background:

With the growing numbers of iron ore pelletization industries in

India, various impacts on environment and health in relation to
the workplace will rise. Therefore, understanding the hazardous
process is crucial in the development of effective control
measures. Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment, and Control
measures (HIRAC) acts as an effective tool of Occupational
Health Assessment.
Objective:

The aim of the study was to identify all the possible hazards at
different workplaces of an iron ore pelletizing industry, to
conduct an occupational health risk assessment, to calculate the
risk rating based on the risk matrix, and to compare the risk
rating before and after the control measures.
Materials and Methods:

The research was a cross-sectional study done from March to

December 2015 in an iron ore pelletizing industry located in
Odisha, India. Data from the survey were collected by inspecting
the workplace, responses of employees regarding possible
hazards in their workplace, reviewing department procedure
manual, work instructions, standard operating procedure,
previous incident reports, material safety data sheet, first
aid/injury register, and health record of employees.
Results:

A total of 116 hazards were identified. Results of the paired-

sample's t-test showed that mean risk rating differs before
taking control measures (M = 9.13, SD = 5.99) and after taking
control measures (M = 2.80, SD = 1.38) at the 0.0001 level of
significance (t = 12.6428, df = 115, N = 116, P < 0.0001, 95% CI
for mean difference 5.34 to 7.32). On an average, risk reduction
was about 6.33 points lower after taking control measures.
Conclusion:

The hazards having high-risk rating and above were reduced to a

level considered As Low as Reasonably Practicable (ALARP)
when the control measures were applied, thereby reducing the
occurrence of injury or disease in the workplace.
Keywords: Control measures, hazard identification, hazardous
process, iron ore pelletizing industry, risk assessment