Abstract
A large number of workers are entering the rapidly growing solar photovoltaic industry. The emerging occupational safety and health risks faced by the workers have rarely been measured and aptly addressed. Moreover, there is a lack of cross-cultural studies on solar photovoltaic workers engaged across different countries. This study was planned to measure the occupational safety and health risks, socio-demographic parameters, study the cross-cultural aspects and develop design concepts for risk mitigation. Field studies were conducted in solar installations in Saudi Arabia and India. Socio-demographic data and risk perception scores for eighteen different occupational safety and health risks were obtained from the workers (n = 135). In addition, discomfort glare was also measured. Design concepts were developed following the hierarchy of controls matrix and the bow-tie analysis method using the prevention through design approach. Heat stress, electrocution, solar radiation, and fire/electric flash were found in the high and very high risk categories. This is a first-of-its-kind cross-cultural study in the solar photovoltaic industry which measures the occupational safety and health risks and develops design concepts for mitigation of risks. This study will be beneficial to solar project developers, safety professionals, ergonomists, industrial designers and policy makers.