COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PRACTICES IN PETROCHEMICAL FACILITIES

Abstract

The petrochemical industry holds critical importance in terms of occupational health and safety (OHS) due to its intensive chemical processes and high-risk working environments. This review comprehensively examines chemical, physical, ergonomic, and psychosocial risk factors specific to the sector; common occupational accidents and diseases; national and international legislative frameworks; OHS management systems such as ISO 45001; training practices; and technological advancements. In addition, successful strategies are evaluated through national and global best practice examples and case studies. While the study identifies current problem areas, it also offers strategic, technological, and cultural-level recommendations to improve the sector’s OHS performance. Ultimately, establishing a sustainable safety culture in the petrochemical industry requires not only regulatory compliance but also the integration of digital solutions, behavioral approaches, and governance-based systems.

Keywords

• ISO 45001
• Occupational health and safety
• Occupational diseases
• Petrochemical industry
• Safety culture

PETROKİMYA TESİSLERİNDE İŞ SAĞLIĞI VE GÜVENLİĞİ UYGULAMALARINA KAPSAMLI BİR BAKIŞ

Abstract

Petrokimya sektörü, yoğun kimyasal süreçler ve yüksek tehlike sınıfındaki çalışma ortamları nedeniyle iş sağlığı ve güvenliği (İSG) açısından kritik öneme sahiptir. Bu derleme çalışmasında; sektöre özgü kimyasal, fiziksel, ergonomik ve psikososyal risk faktörleri; sık görülen iş kazaları ve meslek hastalıkları; Türkiye ve dünya genelindeki yasal mevzuatlar; ISO 45001 gibi İSG yönetim sistemleri; eğitim uygulamaları ve teknolojik gelişmeler detaylı biçimde incelenmiştir. Ayrıca ulusal ve uluslararası iyi uygulama örneklerine ve vaka analizlerine yer verilerek başarılı stratejiler değerlendirilmiştir. Çalışma, mevcut sorun alanlarını ortaya koymakla birlikte, sektörün İSG performansını artırmaya yönelik stratejik, teknolojik ve kültürel düzeyde öneriler sunmaktadır. Sonuç olarak, petrokimya sektöründe sürdürülebilir bir güvenlik kültürünün inşası için sadece mevzuat uyumu değil, aynı zamanda dijital çözümler, davranışsal yaklaşımlar ve yönetişim temelli sistemler gereklidir.

Keywords

• ISO 45001
• İş sağlığı ve güvenliği
• Meslek hastalıkları
• Petrokimya sektörü
• Güvenlik kültürü

References

1. Achumie, G. O., Oyegbade, I. K., Igwe, A. N., Ofodile, O. C., & Azubuike, C. (2022). A Conceptual Model for Reducing Occupational Exposure Risks in High-Risk Manufacturing and Petrochemical Industries through Industrial Hygiene Practices.
2. Azir, S. (2010). Safety Behavior in the Malaysian Petrochemical Industry, Doctoral dissertation, PhD Thesis, Universiti Utara Malaysia.
3. Boughaba, A., Hassane, C., & Roukia, O. (2014). Safety culture assessment in petrochemical industry: a comparative study of two Algerian plants. Safety and health at work, 5(2), 60-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2014.03.005
4. Brykalov, S., Trifonov, V., & Gurieva, E. A. (2022). Approaches to building health and safety risk management processes in accordance with ISO 45001:2018. Issues of Risk Analysis. https://doi.org/10.32686/1812-5220-2022-19-1-10-22.
5. Çakıt, E., Olak, A. J., Murata, A., Karwowski, W., Alrehaili, O. A., & Marek, T. (2019). Assessment of the perceived safety culture in the petrochemical industry in Japan: A cross-sectional study. PLoS ONE, 14(12), e0226416. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226416.
6. Campo, G. (2013). Occupational diseases in the petrochemical sector: Types and temporal trends. Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia, 35(4), 288–290.
7. Çelebi, M.İ. (2010). Kimya ve petrokimya sektöründe kazalar ve petkim örneği, Doktora Tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara.
8. Cheng, C., Yao, H. Q., & Wu, T. C. (2013). Applying data mining techniques to analyze the causes of major occupational accidents in the petrochemical industry. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 26(6), 1269–1278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2013.07.002.

9. Fassio, F., Bussa, M., Oddone, E., Ferraro, O. E., Puci, M. V., Morandi, A., & Monti, M. C. (2022). Health status of petrochemical workers: a narrative review: Stato di salute dei lavoratori del petrolchimico: una revisione narrativa. Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia, 44(1), 51-58. https://doi.org/10.4081/gimle.581.
10. Giacobbe, A. (2013). Accidents at work in the period 2002–2011 in petrochemical sector workers. Prevention and Research, 2(4). https://doi.org/10.11138/PR/2013.2.4.126.
11. Gimaeva, Z. F., Bukhtiyarov, I., Bakirov, A., Kaptsov, V. A., & Karimova, L. K. (2020). Cardiovascular risk in petrochemical workers. Hygiene and Sanitation. https://doi.org/10.33029/0016-9900-2020-99-5-498-503.
12. Heras‐Saizarbitoria, I., Boiral, O., & Ibarloza, A. (2020). ISO 45001 and controversial transnational private regulation for occupational health and safety. International Labour Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12163.
13. Hong, Y. J., Lin, Y., Pai, H., Lai, Y., & Lee, I. (2004). Developing a safety and health training model for petrochemical workers. The Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences, 20(12). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1607-551X(09)70085-3.
14. Innocenzi, M., Saldutti, E., Bindi, L., Di Giacobbe, A., Mercadante, L., & Innocenzi, L. (2013). Asbestos exposure in the petrochemical industry and interaction with other occupational risk factors: Analysis of the last ten years INAIL data. Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia, 35(4), 282–284.
15. Jafari, M., Barkhordari, A., Eskandari, D., & Mehrabi, Y. (2018). Relationships between certain individual characteristics and occupational accidents. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 25(1), 61–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2018.1502232.
16. Jahangiri, M., Abaspour, S., Derakhshan Jazari, M., Bahadori, T., & Malakoutikhah, M. (2018). Development of comprehensive occupational health risk assessment (COHRA) method: Case study in a petrochemical industry. Journal of Occupational Hygiene Engineering, 5(3), 53–60. https://doi.org/10.21859/JOHE.5.3.53.
17. Jephcote, C., Brown, D., Verbeek, T., & Mah, A. (2020). A systematic review and meta-analysis of haematological malignancies in residents living near petrochemical facilities. Environmental Health, 19, Article 93. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-020-00582-1.
18. Jia, J., Wang, X., Xu, Y., Song, Z., Zhang, Z., Wu, J., & Liu, Z. (2024). Digital twin technology and ergonomics for comprehensive improvement of safety in the petrochemical industry. Process Safety Progress. https://doi.org/10.1002/prs.12575.
19. Jing, S., Liu, X., Cheng, C., Shang, X., & Xiong, G. (2014). A HAZOP based model for safety management risk assessment in petrochemical plants. In Proceedings of the 11th World Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation (pp. 3551–3555). https://doi.org/10.1109/WCICA.2014.7053306.
20. Jun-lin, H. (2014). Analysis of the petrochemical industry in the application of instrumentation and automation systems. Guangzhou Chemical Industry.
21. Krainiuk, O., Buts, Y., Barbachin, V., & Didenko, N. (2020). Prospects of digitalization in the field of occupational health and safety. Municipal Economy of Cities. https://doi.org/10.33042/2522-1809-2020-6-159-130-138.
22. Lu, Y., Huang, J. S., Zhou, Y. L., & Sun, P. (2016). Occupational hazard risk assessment of workers exposed to benzene in a petrochemical enterprise in Shanghai, China. Zhonghua lao Dong wei Sheng zhi ye Bing za zhi. Chinese Journal of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Diseases, 34(10), 746-749.
23. Lyashenko, O., Peretiaka, S., Shestakova, M., & Shpota, O. (2024). Occupational safety and health management systems in the context of ISO 45001:2018. Development of Management and Entrepreneurship Methods on Transport (ONMU), 1, 120–130. https://doi.org/10.31375/2226-1915-2024-1-120-130.
24. Majidi, E., Zarei Mahmoud Abadi, H., Fattahi Bafghi, H., Ahmadi, S., Sharifi, M., & Moradi, B. (2022). Identifying and assessment the health hazards of the petrochemical industry using the localized JHA method. Occupational Hygiene and Health Promotion, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.18502/ohhp.v5i4.8462.
25. Mukhtar, M., Yusof, A., & Isa, M. (2020). Knowledge, attitude and practice on occupational safety and health among workers in petrochemical companies. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 436(1), 012029. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/436/1/012029.
26. Muldasheva, N. A., Karimova, L. K., Shapoval, I. V., Beygul, N. A., & Karimov, D. O. (2024). Acute intoxications in chemical production conditions and preventive measures. Occupational Safety in Industry, 10, 76–82. https://doi.org/10.24000/0409-2961-2024-10-76-82.
27. Mutiara, A. (2024). SPL27 Digitalization in occupational health programmes: The new challenges. Occupational Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqae023.0038.
28. Palačić, D. (2019). ISO 45001:2018 - Concept of managing the process of occupational health and safety. Safety Engineering, 9(1), 21–27. https://doi.org/10.7562/se2019.9.01.03.
29. Park, J.-S., Lee, D.-G., Jiménez, J. A., Lee, S.-J., & Kim, J.-W. (2023). Human-focused digital twin applications for occupational safety and health in workplaces: A brief survey and research directions. Applied Sciences, 13(7), 4598. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13074598.
30. Park, Y., & Park, D. J. (2024). System dynamics approach for assessing the performance of safety management systems in petrochemical plants. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2024.105324.
31. Rad, R. M., Khodayari, F., Jalilian, M., Akbarzadeh, A., Omidi, L., Roshani, S., & Toori, G. (2016). Reliability and validity assessment of a customized safety culture questionnaire in the petrochemical industry. Journal of Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention, 4(3), 193–200.
32. Ren, M., Tian, H., Ma, L., Zhou, L., & Wang, Y. (2018). Analysis on the relationship between occupational stress factors and psychological stress reaction among petrochemical workers. Chinese Journal of Industrial
33. Hygiene and Occupational Diseases, 36(4), 247–250. https://doi.org/10.3760/cma.j.issn.1001-9391.2018.04.002. Sepehr, P., Sepehr, A., Rezaee, R., & Samimi, K. (2020). Safety culture and resilience in a petrochemical industry. Archives of Occupational Health, 4(4), https://doi.org/10.18502/aoh.v4i4.4513.
34. Šolc, M., Blaško, P., Girmanová, L., & Kliment, J. (2022). The development trend of the occupational health and safety in the context of ISO 45001:2018. Standards, 2(3), 21. https://doi.org/10.3390/standards2030021.
35. Wells, J., Kochan, T., & Smith, M. (1991). Managing workplace safety and health: The case of contract labor in the U. S. petrochemical industry.
36. Wu, M. (2021). Study on WD Petrochemical Company Safety Management Improvement. Academic Journal of Engineering and Technology Science. https://doi.org/10.25236/ajets.2021.040904.
37. Wu, Q., Fan, S., Zhou, B., Lu, C., Zhang, N., Su, Z., Peng, J., Yu, D., & Zhang, J. (2024). Relationship between occupational factors and sleep disorders among petrochemical workers on Hainan Island, South China: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, 37(6). https://doi.org/10.13075/ijomeh.1896.02468.
38. Yaas, M., & Al-Jammas, E. K. (2018). Assessment of the workers awareness with occupational health and safety at Northern Petrochemical Company in Iraq. International Journal of Academic Research, 2(1).
39. Yong, R., Luo, H., & Guo, D. (2011). Visual system design for independent safety management in petrochemical enterprises. In Communications in Computer and Information Science (Vol. 236, pp. 239–246). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23065-3_36.
40. Zwetsloot, G., Van Middelaar, J., & Van der Beek, D. (2020). Repeated assessment of process safety culture in major hazard industries in the Rotterdam region (Netherlands). Journal of Cleaner Production, 257, 120540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120540