Hazards Identification and Risk Evaluation of Shipyard Operations in Nigeria shipbuilding Industries

The study identified hazards and risk evaluation in shipbuilding industry in Nigeria. It considered some shipyards in the south-south Nigeria specially those located in Rivers State. Two hypotheses were designed to examine the significance of the categories of hazards and risk on dockworkers in shipyards. Both primary and secondary data were used. Primary data was collected through structured and unstructured questionnaires that elicit responses from the targeted respondents. The secondary data were from the health and safety department. Tables, bar charts and descriptive statistics were used to present data while, factor analysis and principal component analysis were applied to test the research hypotheses. It was found that welding & cutting hazards has the most significant impact with percentage rating of (98.9) followed by chemical fumes & dust inhalation hazards (84.1), noise hazards (83), electrical hazards (77.3), vibration hazards (62.5), fire & explosion hazards (52.3). However, biological hazards (26.1) shows no significant impact. The study indicates that electrical, vibration and noise hazards have eigen values of 0.785, 0.549 and 1.284 respectively, while fire & explosion, slips & trips (fall), and biological hazards have eigen values of 0.353, 0.155, and -9.016 respectively. Similarly, welding & cutting and chemical fumes & dust inhalation hazards have eigenvalues of 2.813 and 2.063 respectively. The results indicate that only 3 hazard groups; welding & cutting, chemical fumes & dust inhalation and noise with eigenvalues greater than one (Eigen>1) constitute the dominant hazards and risks exposed to dockworkers in the shipyard. It was recommended that shipyards in order to limit the occurrence of physical injuries, work related illness and death of dockworkers should strategically focus on the dominant hazards associated with shipbuilding which includes welding & cutting hazard, chemical fumes & dust inhalation hazards and noise hazards.