Industrial hygiene and occupational health monitoring of manufacturing industries employing female workers in an export zone in the Philippines /
Jinky Leilani D. Lu, Josefina G. Tayag
In the Philippines, the creation of export zones all over the country has created more employment for the Filipino people. There are reports however of injuries and illnesses common at the workplace due to exposure to certain occupational hazards. It is in this light that this study was conducted. The main objective is to measure the hazard exposures of the women workers in these establishments in comparison with the standards set by by the Occupational Safety and Health Center. It also aimed to look into the injury and health profile of the workers. The methodology consisted of walk-through survey, industrial hygiene measurements through the use of instruments such as noise level meter, anemometer, luxmeter and detector tubes to measure noise, ventilation, illumination and chemical exposures respectively. Medical records were also reviewed and selected interviewers were conducted to investigate the health and injury profile of the subjects. Results show that noise is excessive in some workstations with measurements reaching as high as 100.1.