Article Published In Vol.3 (Jan-Feb-2015)

Safety in Turkish Printing and Publishing Sector; Evaluation of Awareness Levels of the Workers on Health and Safety Issues

Author : Dr. Fatih Yilmaz, Orhan Sevindik and Cem Akpolat

There are limited academic studies on the occupational health and safety conditions of Turkish printing and publishing sector. The aim of this study is to evaluate the risks of the sector, determine the awareness level of the workers on occupational safety and present the occupational health and safety conditions in the sector on the basis of the investigations and measures. Most of the workers included in this study found to be approving the occupational safety measures, which are provided by employees. However, it is found that the employees are lax and behave loosely to enforce and apply sanctions but the awareness of the workers on the occupational safety measures is high. It is determined that the workers, who are trained on printing and publishing processes, are aware and sensitive on occupational safety and measures. Nevertheless, one-third of the workers don’t comply with the measures in an adequate level. Besides, the frequency of occupational accidents are two times higher than the European countries and it shows that the workers of the sector are not trained, informed, aware and sensitive on the occupational safety issues.

Keywords: Printing and publishing, Occupational safety, Safety culture, Occupational accidents.