SAFETY DESIGN OF ELECTRICAL EYELET RIVETING MACHINE: A CASE STUDY IN ONE LEATHER SHOES FACTORY IN KHON KAEN PROVINCE

Abstract

          The rapid growth of production in the industrial sector also requires safety design in the process where reported the number of workplace accidents. This study aimed to design the safety guard for electrical eyelet riveting machines and assess the effectiveness of designing of electrical eyelet riveting machines through Participatory Action Research (PAR) and machine safety risk assessment by Safety Integrity Level (SIL). The key informants for designing safety guard of electrical eyelet riveting machines were the occupational safety professional, machine operators (n=16) and supervisors (n=8). Data was collected by the interview questionnaire guidelines for group discussions to explore problems and needs, SIL on machine safety risk assessment and the questionnaire of satisfaction of the design. Data analysis for effectiveness and satisfaction with safety designing for electrical eyelet was Paired-Samples t-test. Results revealed that the participation in designing safety guard for electrical Eyelet riveting machines resulted in the implementation of plate-form safety guard in the leather shoes factory. This led to an increased safety level for machine operators with a Safety Integrity Level (SIL) at level X (lower than SIL1). Following the experiment, it was found that the plate-form safety guard significantly improved both quantity and quality, with statistical significance (p-value<0.001). Post-experiment, employees expressed higher satisfaction with the plate-form safety guard regarding design, safety, usability, and productivity, with statistical significance (p-value<0.001). In conclusion, the plate-form safety guard for electrical eyelet riveting machines had effectively reduced the risk level of work accidents, leading to safety comfort in working without impact on the quality and quantity of production.