Occupational Hazards And Safety Practices Among Flourmill Workers In Rivers State (original) (raw)

2023, International Journal of Innovative Healthcare Research 11(2):70-80

Flour mill workers are highly exposed to occupational hazards that are harmful in their work environment, such as dust, unfavorable microclimatic condition, excessive noise and insufficient light. The aim of this study was to investigate occupational hazards and safety practices among flourmill workers in Rivers State. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design. The population of this study consisted of flourmill workers in Rivers State. A sample size 210 respondents was used for the study. A simple random sampling technique was used for the study. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed using simple frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation. The result showed that 145(72.5%) of the population had high physical hazards, 112(56.0%) biological hazards, 99(49.5%) chemical hazards, 106(53.0%) high ergonomic hazards, 103(58.0%) psychosocial hazards, and 48(24.0%) of the population had low mechanical hazards. The result showed that good safety practices (1.72±0.74). It was concluded that flourmill workers are prone to occupational hazards. However, majority had good safety practices. Therefore, there is need to put in place special programme that will sustain the level of their adherence to safety precautions. It was recommended amongst others that the Since flourmill workers are exposed to various forms of occupation hazards, targeted, staged based information, education and communication intervention should be implemented by flourmill factories, management, NGOs and stakeholders etc to improve adherence to safety practices