SOCIO DEMOGRAPHIC DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH HAZARDS AWARENESS AMONG ROAD SIDE WELDERS IN MAIDUGURI BORNO STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

Protecting the health of workers cannot be achieved without the workers having adequate knowledge of hazards in their workplace. Knowledge of these hazards can be affected by several factors. Discovering the factors that affect knowledge will help in instituting measures to ensure that the workers have adequate knowledge. This study aimed to assess the socio-demographic determinants of health hazards awareness among welders in Maiduguri Borno State, Nigeria. A questionnaire was used to obtain information from 295 welders choosen through a systematic random sampling technique. The socio-demographic determinants measured include age, educational attainment, length of practice, type of training received and use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequencies and percentages, and inferential statistics of Chi-square. Data indicated 66.22% of the respondents as having a high awareness of health hazards associated with their work. In addition, the chi-square test revealed that awareness of health hazards was positively influenced by age of the respondents, educational attainment, length of practice (experience) and type of training received. There was no association between awareness of health hazards and the use of PPE in the study area. The study, therefore, recommends the need for the government to have a proper health education session for this economically viable group on the health effects of these workplace hazards as this will contribute to the reduction of work-related injuries, as most of the welders are after the economic benefit derived from the occupation while the health hazard is grossly disregarded.