Safety Assessment of a Pottery Factory Using Elmeri+ Index

Background and purpose: Proactive indicators for occupational health and safety (OHS) can provide necessary information about the potential causes of accidents and the effectiveness of occupational safety and health management systems based on simultaneous examining of work environment, working conditions, and workers' behavior. The present study aimed at assessing safety status in a pottery factory using Elmeri index. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a pottery factory in Mazandaran province, 2021. OHS performance of the factory was evaluated in 19 workstations using an observation-based Elmeri+ index in six dimensions. Data analysis was conducted in Excel software based on calculating the index score for each unit (%), the average index (%) for dimensions, and the total factory average index (%). Results: The average total score for Elmeri+ index of the pottery factory was estimated to be 39.07%. Total scores for Elmeri+ index of workstations showed that loading and cementing stations had the lowest scores and security and electrical stations had the highest scores. Of the six dimensions studied, industrial hygiene and ergonomics had the lowest score and workers’ safety behavior had the highest score in different workstations. Conclusion: The study showed that the pottery factory has poor OHS performance and most of the problems were associated with industrial hygiene. Therefore, establishment of OHS management systems (e.g., HSE-MS, ISO45001) can be effective in regular monitoring and implementing appropriate control strategies in a framework for systematic management of OHS could be of great benefit.