Cross-Cultural Study on OSH Risk Perception of Solar PV Workers of Saudi Arabia and India: Risk Mitigation through PtD

Abhijit Sen, Abdulrahman Khamaj, Majed Moosa and Sougata Karmakar ()
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Abhijit Sen: Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, Assam, India
Abdulrahman Khamaj: Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia
Majed Moosa: Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia
Sougata Karmakar: Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, Assam, India

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 24, 1-16

Abstract: A large number of workers are entering the rapidly growing solar photovoltaic industry. The emerging occupational safety and health risks faced by the workers have rarely been measured and aptly addressed. Moreover, there is a lack of cross-cultural studies on solar photovoltaic workers engaged across different countries. This study was planned to measure the occupational safety and health risks, socio-demographic parameters, study the cross-cultural aspects and develop design concepts for risk mitigation. Field studies were conducted in solar installations in Saudi Arabia and India. Socio-demographic data and risk perception scores for eighteen different occupational safety and health risks were obtained from the workers (n = 135). In addition, discomfort glare was also measured. Design concepts were developed following the hierarchy of controls matrix and the bow-tie analysis method using the prevention through design approach. Heat stress, electrocution, solar radiation, and fire/electric flash were found in the high and very high risk categories. This is a first-of-its-kind cross-cultural study in the solar photovoltaic industry which measures the occupational safety and health risks and develops design concepts for mitigation of risks. This study will be beneficial to solar project developers, safety professionals, ergonomists, industrial designers and policy makers.

Keywords: solar photovoltaics; occupational health and safety; design; sustainable development goals; renewable energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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