Abstract
The overall objective of the study was to determine Nigerian university students’ awareness and exposure to label warnings on portable electric power generators; their level of comprehension of these label warnings; knowledge of carbon monoxide poisoning; and, preventive measures taken to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. The survey research method was used for this study. Data was collected in Southeastern Nigeria among undergraduate students, by administering questionnaire to a sample of 400 students from four universities. The study found a high level of exposure to label warnings on house hold products but a minimal exposure to label warnings on portable electric power generating sets among these students.Variables like placement of the warnings, font sizes and religious inclination hindered exposure to the warnings and compliance to the warning message; awareness of carbon monoxide information was high and a greater number among the respondents got informed either through their families and friends or read about it; a relatively lower number got informed through the media. While these university students were aware of carbon monoxide poisoning, they were not properly informed of the different symptoms that are associated with the gas and the preventive measures that could prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. This suggests that carbon monoxide poisoning is not being taken seriously as a health hazard among people susceptible to poisoning. Key words : Health risk communication, portable electricity generator use, carbon monoxide poisoning, label warnings DOI : 10.7176/JEES/9-6-14 Publication date :June 30 th 2019
Highlights
In the month of March, 2019, four siblings of the same family were found dead by their neighbors
Frantz and Rhoades (1993) suggested that compliance was greater when warnings were placed so they interfered with the task compared to when the warnings were merely placed on an object. These findings suggest that placement of a warning intended as a reminder in a conspicuous location on a product itself maynot only increase the likelihood that the safety related information to which one has been exposed is cued and recalled, and encourage compliance
Observation revealed that when the warning message was at the end of the instructions subjects complied only when they saw the warning message before starting the task. These results indicate that if warnings are placed in front of instructions the consumer is more likely to read and comply
Summary
In the month of March, 2019, four siblings of the same family were found dead by their neighbors. Further investigation carried out by the police showed that this gas came from the exhaust fumes of an electric power generating set placed very close to the family’s window These deaths and many others reported by the media probably occurred because owners and users of electric power generating sets apparently www.iiste.org do not follow instructions/ warnings placed on both the bodies of these machines and in the manuals; to guide them on the proper way to operate these machines. Each year in Britain and countries all over the world, approximately 50 people die and two hundred people suffer severe morbidity by carbon monoxide poisoning. This poisoning is caused by intentional harm, but most of it is accidental. Carbon monoxide (CO) is the most common cause of accidental poisoning, and according to one estimate, CO poisoning symptoms in as many as 25,000 people in the UK can be attributed to faulty gas appliances (Afolayan,Olajumoke,Amadasun&Isesele,2014)
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