Date of Award

5-5-2013

Access Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Safety Science

Department

Behavioral & Safety Sciences

Committee Chair

Maxwell Fogleman, Ph.D., M.P.H., C.P.E.

First Committee Member

Dawn Bolstad-Johnson, M.P.H., CIH, CSP

Second Committee Member

William D. Waldock, MAS, CSS

Abstract

Comprehensive knowledge of the air pollutants effects on the human health generally is a crucial requirement in developing effective policies for reducing such adverse effects related to ambient air pollution. Such knowledge would be essential in helping various affected countries, including the less developed countries (LDCs), to develop effective regulatory frameworks for assessing and managing air quality in the workplaces. Developed and developing countries therefore need to develop effective techniques or strategies focused towards improving the workplace monitoring competence in diverse industrial environments. Such initiatives are essential in reducing or eliminating the industrial pollutants within the workplaces while also helping in developing effective working environment standards to preserve the workers‘ health. This research will therefore investigate the relationship between the quality of air in the working environment and the occupational health. The study particularly attempt to determine whether individuals working in the metal industries are at higher risks of air-related health effects as compared to those in other industries. A qualitative and quantitative method will apply, using both the primary and secondary data. A survey will be the major primary data collection tool while various cases will provide the secondary data (Reijula, 2008, p.8)

A questionnaire (Appendix A) was distributed in Jubai Industrial City, Saudi Arabia and completed by 178 study participants from three diverse industries: metal, petrochemical and building material. Chapter IV includes the analyzed data from the three groups of workers stratifying those gathered data for two vital aspects that might impact on the result by being confounders which are smoking habits and age. A retrospective person time cohort study took place for assessing the relative risk of air pollution exposure to the workers‘ occupational health problems such as respiratory disease, occupational asthma, and scar tissue.

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