Ilias-Konstantinos Petrou, "Occupational risk assessment in a car repair workshop", Diploma Work, School of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete, Chania, Greece, 2023
https://doi.org/10.26233/heallink.tuc.99899
It is widely known that all jobs existing in modern society, regardless of theirnature, involve risks, some to a greater and others to a lesser extent. In previousyears, after a series of accidents or problems that occurred to workers invarious work sectors, humans tried to record the risks that contributed to theappearance of these negative effects, to study them and then to take a seriesof measures to be able to prevent them or to eliminate them. Working in a carrepair shop could not be an exception as it is highly demanding and due tocertain parameters carries many risks.The aim of this thesis is initially to identify and record the risks that employeesface while working in a car workshop, and then to analyze them thoroughly sothat we can reach to the root of the problems that arise. In this way, we will beable to propose measures to limit them when the risks appear (protectionmeasures), but also measures to prevent their occurrence in the first place(prevention measures).Initially, in the 1st chapter, the definition of occupational risk is made, and thestages of occupational risk assessment are mentioned in order to understandthe criteria by which the risks that were recorded were selected and will thenbe analyzed. In addition, reference is made to the rights and obligations ofemployees and employers in car repair shops, so in case that an adversesituation is recorded because of a risk, the person responsible for its occurrencecan be identified and responsibilities can be properly distributed. Finally,reference is made to the qualifications of the security technician that everyrepair shop must have in order to be able to operate legally.Moving on to the 2nd chapter, the work carried out in a car workshop isrecorded, as well as the equipment used. From the execution of the tasks in acar workshop, certain risks were observed and recorded and were primarilyanalyzed. In addition, statistics are presented from accidents that occurred inprevious years in car workshops due to the risks mentioned, in order to give thenegative effects of their existence and to make it widely understood howimportant it is to limit them.Entering the 3rd chapter of this thesis, reference is made to the currentinstitutional framework for occupational health and safety (OHS) to understandhow each workplace must operate and what obligations the employer has sothat his business is legal and safe. Next, the method of "barriers-threatsdangers"diagrams (bow ties) is analyzed, as well as the adjuvant job hazardanalysis method that will be used below. Specifically, "barriers-threats-risks"diagrams (bowties) are constructed for each risk separately, the results of whichare summarized and quantified in the table of the job hazard analysis method.With the help of these methods, we will be able to record the seriousness of therisks and propose prevention and protection measures to deal with them.Continuing in the 4th chapter, a full reference is made to the second mainmethod of risk analysis that we will use: the method of fault trees. Then themethod is applied for each risk separately and the counterparts fault trees areconstructed. With this method we can analyze the risks in depth and get closerto their creation to understand the events that led us to their appearance. In thisway we will be able to define the actions to be taken to avoid their appearancein car workshops.Concluding, in the 5th and last chapter and summarizing the results of themethods applied for the assessment and evaluation of the risks in the 3rd and4th chapters, the conclusions drawn are recorded and suggestions are givenfor dealing with them so that car repair shops become safer for their employeesand to limit as much as possible the accidents in the specific workplace.