Development of a semi-quantitative agricultural safety and health risk assessment matrix for palm oil plantation work activities in Malaysia

The agriculture sector revolves around a dynamic environment, which creates high uncertainty and risk, notably in safety and health which can result in occupational accidents. Consequently, a comprehensive application of risk assessment is essential to the decision-making process. In Malaysia, a standard risk assessment matrix (RAM) that is widely employed by all sectors is incapable of delivering an accurate result, exacerbating the actual risk. This study aim to develop and validate a specific agricultural safety and health risk assessment matrix (ASHRAM), with a focus on Malaysian-selected palm oil plantation work activities. ASHRAM was developed based on the likelihood (L), severity (S), and modifying risk factor (MRF) of an agricultural occupational accident. A comparison was performed to determine the effectiveness and level of risk of ASHRAM compared to RAM. This study also investigates the relationship between L, S, and MRF with residual risk value (RR) and how they predict RR value in ASHRAM. ASHRAM expert evaluation found that threshold (d) value <0.2 has obtained expert consensus. The overall percentage of each item evaluated was greater than 75%, indicating a good degree of validity. Result showed a significant difference between RAM and ASHRAM for each plantation site (p<0.05). ASHRAM analysis also found to have more accuracy than RAM. In addition, the L (r=0.766, p<0.01), S (r=0.683, p<0.01), and MRF (r=0.398, p<0.01) were positively correlated with the RR value. Regression analysis found a significant RR value prediction by L, S, and MRF (p = 0.001, p<0.05). In contrast to RAM, the results reveal that ASHRAM offers reliable data by determining the L rating scale. The MRF component in ASHRAM would allow organizations to evaluate the effectiveness of risk control. ASHRAM outperforms RAM in risk estimate and can be utilized as an improved risk assessment tool in palm oil plantations, however it will only be applicable to selected work activities. Overall, the precision of the data in ASHRAM, which was established using numerical evidence to support risk calculation, will help to reduce agricultural and, in particular, palm oil plantation occupational accidents.

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