Wipada PanakobkitGanjana Nathapindhu2011-02-222011-02-222011-01-252011-01-25Mahasarakham Hospital Journal; Vol.6 No.3 November 2009 - January 2010; 58-66http://imsear.searo.who.int/handle/123456789/131691This research project was an investigative study on working environment in wood furnisher factories in Khon kaen province, Thailand. The aspects of working  environment covered were noise level, harmful particulates and brightness level or  illumination. These aspects were then compared to standards. During this project, an  interview was conducted on factories’ employees in manufacturing processes. There  were 4 factories participated in this investigation, one was a medium size factory, whoemployed 52 workers and the others were small and had the combined workers of 17  persons. The gather data was then analysed using a commercially available statistic  program named SPSS and the method used were frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and rageThe data analysis illustrated a few common results in regard to these factory workers  in the areas of sex, age and education. The employees were mostly male and the  percentage went as high as 94.1% in small factories. The average age was just below  45 years old and the large portion only graduated from primary school. The  percentage of person who finished primary school in medium size factory was lower  at 75% where the number went up to 84.2% in small factories. The normal workingtime was 8 hours per day, 6 days a week and the factories open all year. While the  workers in medium size factory perform repetitive task and stay within an area of a  production line, workers in the others perform various tasks all over the factory. The  interview also revealed that the medium factory routinely has overtime, unlike the  small factories where this depend on the work. In regard to working condition, the large factory had an organised workplace with protection and safety equipmentprovided. Whereas the small factories lacked good working environment.The investigation of working condition were done by measuring parameters and then compared to standards, which found that the participated factories only meet the  standard on harmful particulate level.en-USMahasarakham Hospital, Mahasarakham, Ministry of Public Health, ThailandArticles