Occupational Health and Safety Risk Analysis of Six Engineering Laboratories Using an Activity-Based HIRARC Approach

Abstract

Engineering laboratories combine high-energy machinery, live circuits, pressurised fluids and open flames with novice student operators, yet occupational health and safety in Indonesian higher education is still managed largely through academic rather than risk-based instruments. This study applies Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control (HIRARC) to six practicum laboratories of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Universitas Tidar, using the practicum activity rather than the room as the unit of analysis. Hazards were identified through direct observation and document review and scored by an assessor panel on a 5 x 5 matrix with predefined severity and likelihood criteria. Three main findings emerge. First, the 27 activity-level hazards are dominated by mechanical sources, and nearly half of the activities (44%) are high risk before control. Second, risk profiles differ between laboratories: the machining-intensive Production Process, Welding and CNC laboratories carry the highest mean risk, while the single most severe activity is CNC operation with a running spindle, so mean-based and peak-based rankings point to different priorities. Third, combined engineering and administrative controls, each mapped to the Indonesian regulation that requires it, are expected by the assessor panel to bring every activity to the low band, an estimated mean reduction of 58.5%; this is a prospective panel estimate, not a result measured after implementation. The study contributes an activity-based, regulation-linked risk register that allows laboratories with different energy profiles to be compared on one scale and to be prioritised for safety investment.