ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the occupational hazards and health status of laboratory staff in a lubricant research and development (R & D) laboratory, and to provide a basis for formulating occupational health protection measures for laboratory staff. Methods The types of occupational hazard factors in the laboratory were determined by field investigation of occupational health, and the concentrations or intensities of occupational hazard factors were obtained by on-site sampling and laboratory testing. The health status of laboratory staff was evaluated through occupational health examination. Results The main occupational hazards in the lubricant laboratory were benzene, toluene, xylene, pentane, hexane, heptane, ethylene glycol, methanol, isopropanol, chlorobenzene, dichloromethane, chloroform, aniline, oxolane, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and noise. The test results showed that the hazard levels of all kinds of chemical toxicants met the national standards from 2017 to 2019. The sample test results were lower than the detection limit, which were 94.00%, 96.89% and 97.41%, respectively, from 2017 to 2019. There were no significant differences (χ2=4.324, P=0.115). Results of noise detection showed that the noise levels did not exceed the standard from 2017 to 2019. A laboratory worker with high-frequency hearing impairment was found through the medical examination in 2019. The re-examination rates of occupational health examination in 2017-2019 were 3.26%, 1.12% and 1.18%, respectively, and there were no significant differences (χ2=1.618, P=0.445). Conclusion The occupational hazards that the laboratory staff of the lubricant research and development was exposed to were characterized by a wide variety of chemical poisons, with low concentrations and low exposure levels. However, the occupational health examination should not be ignored.