Determinants of occupational health and safety: knowledge, attitude, and safety practices toward occupational hazards of sawmill workers in Egor Local Government Area, Edo State

Abstract

Background: Sawmilling operations involve a lot of manual handling which exposes the workers to numerous occupational health hazards, which can impact on their occupational health and safety. The knowledge, attitude and safety practices of sawmill workers are paramount for the mitigation and control of these hazards to ensure optimal health and safety. Objectives: This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and safety practices of sawmill workers towards occupational health hazards in Egor Local Government Area, Edo State. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out amongst 178 sawmills workers selected using stratified sampling technique. Structured interviewer’s administered questionnaires were used for data collection. Data was analysed with statistical package for scientific solutions version 21.0 software. Univariate and bivariate analysis were done and level of significance was set at P<0.05. Results: The mean age (standard deviation) of respondents was 34.69±9.91. One hundred and seventy five (98.3%) of the respondents were males. A majority 165 (92.7%) of the respondents were aware of dust and noise 160 (89.9%), as occupational hazards in sawmill. One hundred and forty eight (83.1%) of the respondents had positive attitude towards occupational health hazards in sawmill while almost three fifth 103 (57.9%) of the respondent had poor work safety practices. Conclusion: Majority of the sawmill workers had fair knowledge of occupational hazards and positive attitudes towards occupational hazards. However, poor safety practices were evident. There is need to improve the knowledge of sawmill workers in relation to occupational hazards and safety practices so as to mitigate its negative consequences.