Effect of occupational hazards and safety practices among petrol attendants in Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract Background The petrol station attendants are the first point of contact to customers who visit the station to purchase fuel. They encounter several health hazard and health problems while working. This study was conducted to determine the occupational hazards, health problems and safety practices of petrol station attendants and subsequently to train the PSAs on the identified occupational hazard, associated health problems and safety practices while working. Methods This is an intervention study carried out among all consenting attendants working in filling stations owned by independent petroleum marketers in Enugu. Data was collected using semi structured interviewer-administered questionnaire cast in English language. The data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences version 23. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated. Level of significance was set at 5%. Results A total of 400 respondents participated in the study. The mean age of respondents was 24.3 ± 4.6 years for the male and female respectively. Hazards reported included inhalation of petrol fumes, confrontation from customers, armed robbery attack and noise. Health problems reported included headache, low back pain, sciatic pain, muscle spasm, eye irritation, dizziness, cough and nausea. Awareness about the correct use of personal protective equipment was very poor prior to the intervention but increased up to 94.5% immediately after the intervention. The results of this study shows that the PSAs who participated in this study were exposed to various health hazards. Awareness and use of PPE was very poor prior to the commencement of this study but significantly increased after the intervention. Conclusions Therefore, it's important to engage various stakeholders in this sector to ensure that owners of filling stations take responsibility for the health safety of their workers and ensure regular health education on safety practices. Key messages This study was conducted to determine the occupational hazards, health problems and safety practices of petrol station attendants and to train them. Relevant means and standard deviation were calculated. Inferential statistics were calculated using t-test, analysis of variance and Chi-square test.