Objective To understand the occupational health risks caused by chemical hazards in a shoe-making enterprise in Dongguan, and to provide scientific basis for the prevention and control of occupational hazards in the shoe-making industry.

Methods In 2019, an occupational health survey was carried out in this shoe-making enterprise in Dongguan. According to the technical guidelines for occupational health risk assessment of chemical hazardous factors in workplace (GBZ/T 298-2017), a semi-quantitative model was used for occupational health risk assessment.

Results There were 445 employees in this company and the company implemented the working arrangement of 6 days per week and 11 hours per day. There were 17 chemical harmful factors existed in the enterprise, among these the exposure levels of butanone, trichloroethylene, methyl acetate and ethyl acetate were higher than the national standards. The health risk levels caused by exposure to butanone, dichloromethane, cyclohexanone, trichloromethane, trichloroethylene, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate and n-heptane at working positions of gluing, wiping, watermarking and color correction were low. The health risk levels of acetone exposure at working positions of gluing, wiping and watermarking were low. The health risk level of butyl acetate and methanol exposure at wiping position was low. The health risk levels caused by other chemical substances at all positions could be negligible. The health risk caused by combined exposure to both esters and halogenated hydrocarbons was higher than that of benzene series. The combined exposure to esters and halohydrocarbon at the gluing position induced medium health risk, which was higher than that at other positions.

Conclusion There were potential occupational health risks caused by chemicals exposure in Dongguan shoemaking enterprises, and effective preventive and control measures should be taken.