Risk Assessment on Safety and Health of Workers in Oil Palm Plantation

Abstract

The safety and health of workers in the oil palm plantation industry were of paramount importance due to the hazardous nature of agricultural work. Workers encountered multiple hazards and faced risks related to posture, chemical exposure, and physical strain during various field operations such as harvesting, weeding and pest control, manuring, and collecting and loading Fresh Fruit Bunches. Neglecting safety and health practices in oil palm plantations could result in increased rates of injuries and fatalities, significantly impacting workers and the industry's overall success. The objectives of the study were to identify the risk levels in safety and health, identify the field operation contributing to the highest risk, and determine the relationship between risks in field operations and workers' productivity. Data were collected through distributed structural questionnaires, on-site observations, and interviews. Thus, this study was conducted at oil palm plantation company in Kluang, Johor and the sample size was 132 workers using simple random sampling. Probability Impact Matrik and SPSS version 26 have been used in this study and the results indicated that weeding and pest control posed the highest risk (risk no 1), followed by harvesting (risk no 2), manuring (risk no 3), and collecting and loading (risk no 4). Only harvesting demonstrated a positive relationship with workers' productivity among these activities. The findings of this study provided valuable insights into the levels of risk of activity, the identification of high-risk field operations, and the relationship between risks and workers' productivity.