Assessment of Total Dust and Pulmonary Function among Workers at a Stone Milling Factory in Surat Thani province

Abstract

ABSTRACT
Objective: To study on the concentration of the total dust in workplace, evaluation of pulmonary function among workers and classify pulmonary function among workers in each workplace of stone milling
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive research conducted in a stone mill, Surat Thani Province. Sample consisted of 24 employees and the workplace of 5 departments; consisting of the crushed stone, the office, the maintenance, the truck parking area and the weighing stones. The study was carried out between November 2022 - March 2023, to tal dust samples were collected and analyzed of workplace
by using NIOSH Methods No. 0500 at 8-hour work period including occupational lung function tests of workers in each departments were by using spirometer.
Results: The highest total dust concentration of workplace had of 2.05 ± 1.13 mg/m3. However, the total dust concentration of the workplace in every department did not exceed the standards of OSHA and ACGIH. Occupational lung function test results of most employees, they were normal with an average FVC (Predicted) at 89.67% (S.D. ±11.15), FEV1 at 90.67% (S.D. ±11.59), FVC1/FEV1 at 101.91%
(S.D.±7.16). Classified by type of lung function had normal of 23 workers, accounting for 95.84%, and restrictive abnormality of 1 workers, accounting for 4.16% as crushed stone.
Conclusions: Therefore, entrepreneurs should have surveillance of risk section for dust exposure form work and raising awareness of wearing dust protection equipment to reduce dust exposure among workers.
Keywords: total dust, pulmonary function, stone milling