The Effectiveness of Health and Safety Programmes in Addressing Occupational Diseases and Injuries at Manufacturing Facilities in Ibadan Southwest Local Government of Oyo State, Nigeria (original) (raw)
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In today's world man lives in a " chemical age " as there is hardly any industry that does not make use of and or produce chemicals in the work process. So every person is exposed to many different types of chemicals in their occupation or environment. This is one of the most serious public health problems today that has drawn the attention at both national and global levels. Occupational hazards are those material substances, processes or circumstances that pose threat to health and well being of workers in all occupations. Most often the exposure is to several of these chemical agents simultaneously. Of utmost important is for the workers to be aware of these hazards, guide against exposure and to use safety devices in the work place. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the pattern of occupational hazards and provision of occupational health service and safety measures among workers of Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Ltd (KR PC). Methodology: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study. All the industrial workers in the refinery constituted the study population. Cluster sampling technique was used to sample respondents in the 7 industrial Departments of the Refinery. Each Department constituted a homogenous unit from which the respondents were randomly selected. A structured open – ended and self administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Information sought was; socio-demographic characteristics, type of occupational hazards and exposure, knowledge of occupational safety and use of protective devices. Results A total of 250 respondents participated in the study. Most of the respondents were in the age range of 30-44 years. Majority of respondents (90%) were males, married (72.0%) and had completed tertiary education (78.0%) respectively. Majority of respondents (95.0%) knew and were aware of occupational hazards they are exposed to. These included chemicals (90.0%), noise pollution (64.5%) and machines (58.3 %.) Forty four percent (44%) of respondents have had injury in the course of their work. The commonest injuries among respondents were respectively cuts/lacerations (58.7%) bruises (15.6%), injury to the eye (6.4%) and amputation of the hand (1.8%). Types of chemical injuries sustained by respondents included gas/chemical inhalation (52.4%) burns (20.6%) and splash into the eyes (19.0%). Among ergonomic injuries, 64.5% had low back pain. Almost all the respondents (97.0%) were aware of safety measures in the workplace; and majority (92.1%) had had formal training on occupational safety. Most of the respondents (78%) admitted to regular use of protective devices. Reasons given for non-regular use were; feels uncomfortable (29.1%), makes work difficult to perform (25.5%) and no cogent reason (23.6%) Conclusion Despite the knowledge and awareness of respondents to occupational hazards and formal training in occupational safety, compliance rate is not encouraging. This deficiency needs to be addressed through public health awareness campaigns in the work place. It is further recommended that the inspectorate division of federal ministry of industry carry out periodic monitoring/supervision exercises in order to enforce adherence to and compliance with the regular use of safety devices. Through these, we can abate the occurrence of occupational hazards and injuries in Nigerian industries.
This study, with a case study of Sokoto Cement, Coca-Cola Bottling Company and Leather Factory, investigated the magnitude and extent of occupational health and safety status among small and medium scale industrial workers in Sokoto Metropolis in Nigeria. The overall annual prevalence of work related injuries was 17.5/50 exposed workers, with 18/50 and 16.2/50 among small and medium industrial workers, respectively. Nine (17.1%) of the injured respondents were hospitalized, accounting for 40% hospitalization of more than 24hours. 27(53.9%) of the injured respondents were absent from work for more than 3 days period. There was one (1) death as a result of work related injuries in the last 12 months. The significant contributing factors for work related injuries in both industries were young age less than (<30years); job experience categories were observed as follows, 5 years or less in the present job, working 48 hours or less per week, lack of workplace supervisor, sleep disorder and job dissatisfaction. Young age, job experience category, lack of experience, and sleep disorder were observed increased factor in risk of work related injuries. Working 48 hours or less, lack of work place supervisor, and lack of job satisfaction were observed to decrease the occurrence of work related injuries. Preventive measures concerning regular health and safety training at work place and establishment of active and functional occupational health and safety programmers are essential to safeguard the health and safety condition of work force in small and medium scale industries.
Journal of Epidemiological Society of Nigeria, 2020
Background: Workplace safety measures are intended to reduce injuries, accidents and hazards to employees. This study was to determine the workplace hazard exposure, practice of safety measures and use of private protective equipment by workers in selected factories in Nnewi, Anambra State Nigeria. Methods: Using a cross-sectional descriptive design, a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and an observational checklist were data collection tools. Using a stratified sampling and proportionate random sampling techniques 816 staff from three strata participated in the study.Results: Out of the 634 completely filled questionnaires, 97.5% respondents were males and 65.8% were aged 26-40years. Majority (78.6%) had four or less years of experience and 23.5% earned between N21,000-N30,000 monthly. Most (96.8%) were trained to use protective equipment and 93.7% believed that their current job was hazardous. Out of the 182 respondents with high level of workplace hazard expo...
EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA ON ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AT WORK
Trends in Ecological and Indoor Environment Engineering, 2(1), 11–17, 2024
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has developed numerous conventions, protocols, and recommendations on minimum labour standards, with the majority relating to occupational safety and health systems (OSH). However, environmental issues like deforestation, desertification, flooding, erosion, oil spills, and air and water pollution, particularly in Nigeria, pose a threat to the health and safety of the many organizations in developing nations. Using a hybrid of research designs such as survey and content analysis and based on the Risk Society Theory and Sense-making Theory, this paper reviews, environmental health and occupational safety at workplaces in Nigeria. This study aims to identify environmental health and occupational safety issues in Nigeria's manufacturing sector, specifically in the iron and steel and aluminium industry, by examining inaccurate data on male and female workers. Using in-depth interviews with a total of 17 participants, the primary data was gathered from managers and senior staff members of chosen firms in Ajaokuta, Kogi State, and Lagos State, Nigeria. These were Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) and Alumaco Aluminium Manufacturing Co. of Nigeria Ltd., Ikeja, Nigeria. It discovers a high level of occupational health awareness, insufficient funding for safety intelligence initiatives, and a high frequency of workplace dangers. The study also finds that Nigeria was among the signatories in Africa who failed to comply with this directive. It recommends promoting occupational health services, training doctors to recognize work-related diseases, and complying with the ILO's Convention 155. The article also suggests updating laws, conducting education campaigns, investing in training, and holding employers accountable for non-compliance.
2017
The present study examined the general causes of injuries, illnesses and fatalities among the workforce in three industrial sectors located in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. A total of 663 copies of questionnaires were distributed for data collection among 11 sampled companies found in the Oil and Gas industries, Construction sector, Transportation and Logistics. In data collection, the purposive sampling technique was applied while XLSTAT 2016 version 4.06 statistical software package was employed for data analysis. The applied methodologies used for analyses of collected data, are the Friedman test used to examine variance among the various respondents’ groups; Multiple Pairwise comparisons (post hoc) of responses among the various sampled groups utilizing the Nemenyi’s procedure on two tailed test; Shapiro-Wilk test of Normality for determination of data type used for choice of analytical process to be applied for parametric and non-parametric data. Principal Component Analys...
To have a vibrant and productive economy in any nation, it becomes imperative that the health and safety of her workers must be given priority attention by the worker himself, employer and the government. Because of the increasing industrialization, infrastructural developments and modernization taking place in developing countries particularly like Nigeria. These factors have not only increased the job opportunities in and around the country but at the same time increased the incidence of morbidity and mortality of workers. And so it is important that the worker has an in depth knowledge and understanding of the nature of the job with regards to the health hazard exposures peculiar to the job and the safety measures to be undertaken even before accepting the job. More so, safety officers, factory and industrial managers etc. need to appreciate the need to know all that is involved in the job in order to make the workplace a safe and conducive one for the worker and achieve high productivity. This paper attempts to highlight a lot of occupational hazards that occur among both the formal and informal Nigerian workers, reasons for their occurrences, safety measures, lapses on the part of the employer and reveals the laxity on the part of government to enact and enforce occupational safety and health laws.
Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) defined "occupational health" as dealing with all aspects of health and safety in the workplace and has a strong focus on primary prevention of hazards. A hazard is any source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on something or someone under certain conditions at work. Globally, there are 2.9 billion workers who are exposed to hazardous risk at their work places. Annually, there are two million deaths that are attributable to occupational diseases and injuries, while 4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is lost due to occupational diseases and injuries. Objectives: To assess the occupational health hazards in small and medium-scale manufacturing industries in Anambra State. Methodology: This was a comparative descriptive cross-sectional study amongst registered medium and small-scale manufacturing industries in Anambra State. Data were collected using an interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaire and were analyzed using SPSS version 17. An inspection of the industries was done and the measurement of noise level, dust and psychosocial hazards within the factory floor was carried out. Results: A preponderance of male staff was found in the small scale (77.6%) and medium scale (75.0%) industries. The medical staffs constituted 7.4% in the medium scale industries and 2.1% in the small scale industries. The medical staff in both the small and medium scale industries constituted only 3.9% of the total work force. The average noise level was found to be higher in the medium scale industries (76.2) as compared to the small scaled industries (72.6). The average environmental dust concentration and psychosocial hazards were found to be higher in the small scale industries (2.3mg/m 3 and 52.1%); as compared to the medium scale industries (1.1mg/m 3 and 26.3%) respectively. Cuts and injuries constituted 41.2%; 35.4 and 25.9%; 30.0 of complaints by workers associated with hazards in the small and medium scale industries respectively. Conclusion: The average noise level was higher in the medium scale industries and generally lower than the threshold limits value (TLV) for noise of 85dB over an 8 hour working period. The average environmental dust concentration and psychosocial hazards were higher in the small scale industries. There was high potentials for accidents and injuries.
International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Background: Founding predisposes the worker to hazards (extreme heat, dust, fumes, sharp objects), which if unchecked, can cause health problems (burns, respiratory problems, cuts). This study aimed to assess the awareness and practice of safety measures against occupational hazards among aluminium foundry workers in Jos-North LGA.Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study, which involved 125 aluminium foundry workers in Laranto-Katako area of Jos-North LGA. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Analysis of data was done using EPI-Info® version 3.5.4 statistical software package. A probability value of p≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: All 125 (100%) respondents were males with a mean age of 24.8±9.7 years and 52 (41.2%) were less than 20 years of age. The study revealed that 118 (94.4%) of them were aware of occupational hazards associated with foundries; The hazards most known were fires with 116 (92.8%) mentions, ex...
Innovare Journal of Medical Sciences
Objectives: The objectives of the study was to determine the occupational hazards HWCs face and the safety measure put in place to mitigate these hazards in a tertiary health institution in Edo State, Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used to carry out this study among HWCs in a tertiary health institution. Data were analyzed with IBM-SPSS version 23 and statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: Out of the 163 respondents interviewed, 50.92% of them had poor knowledge of occupational hazard while 49.08% had good knowledge. All the doctors interviewed had good knowledge as compared to a larger proportion of other HWCs who had poor knowledge of occupational hazard and this association was statistically significant. Most of respondents (96.93%) had positive attitude toward occupational hazard with few of them having poor safety measures to avoid injury in the work place. Conclusion: Majority of Health care workers with the exception of medic...
An Exploration of Health and Safety Management Issues in Nigeria’s Effort to Industrialize
European Scientific Journal, 2013
All organizations have a duty of care to ensure that employees and other persons who may be affected by the company's undertakings remain safe at all times. This paper examines the background of occupational health and safety (OHS) practices in Nigeria, and highlights the importance of mitigating the OHS challenges identified from the moral, legal, financial and other dimensions. In the Nigerian context, the need to reinforce health and safety management (HSM) issues is exemplified from the unsavory recurrent reports of plane crashes in the aviation industry, high rates of motor vehicle accidents, numerous cases of death due to poisoning in the solid mineral sector, frequent accounts of disasters in the petroleum sector arising from oil spills, pipeline vandalism as well as accidents involving petroleum tankers. More effective and efficient management of these issues is a sine qua non to the industrialization efforts of an economy. Against the background of extant HS legislation in Nigeria, some reasons for the frequent violations of OHS standards and norms by the operators were identified as bribery and corruption in the system, the 'Nigerian Factor', inadequate funding of monitoring institutions, low level of education of employees as well as problems of persistent unemployment in the country. While recommending ways to mitigate the OHS flaws in Nigerian institutions, the relative duties and responsibilities of stakeholders in the OHS business were identified. The paper concludes by noting the importance of a virile HSM environment to the overall economic development and industrialization of the nation.