Abstract
BackgroundUse of personal protective equipment is one of the important measures to safeguard workers from exposure to occupational hazards, especially in developing countries. However, there is a dearth of studies describing personal protective equipment utilization in Ethiopia. The present study has determined the magnitude of personal protective equipment utilization and identified associated factors among textile factory workers at Hawassa Town, southern Ethiopia.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among textile factory workers at Hawassa Town, southern Ethiopia from January to March 2014. Stratified sampling followed by simple random sampling techniques was used to select the total of 660 study participants. A pre-tested and structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Multivariate analyses were employed to see the effect of explanatory variables on dependent variable.ResultsThe magnitude of personal protective equipment utilization was 82.4 %. Service duration of >10 years [AOR: 0.23, 95 % CI: (0.09, 0.58)], availability of personal protective equipments [AOR: 21.73, 95 % CI: (8.62, 54.79)], shift work [AOR: 2.28, 95 % CI: (1.12, 4.66)], alcohol drinking [AOR: 0.26, 95 % CI: (0.10, 0.66)], and cigarette smoking [AOR: 0.20, 95 % CI: (0.05, 0.78)] were factors significantly associated with use of personal protective equipment.ConclusionIn this study a relatively higher personal protective equipment utilization rate was reported compared to other studies in developing countries. However, this does not mean that there will be no need for further strengthening the safety programs as there are significant proportion of the workers still does not use all the necessary personal protective equipment during work. Interventions to promote use personal protective equipment should focus on areas, such as service duration, availability of protective equipment, presence of shift work, and control of substance abuse.
Highlights
Use of personal protective equipment is one of the important measures to safeguard workers from exposure to occupational hazards, especially in developing countries
This paper presents the findings of a study which investigated protective equipment (PPE) utilization and associated factors among textile factory workers in southern Ethiopia, a low-income country in East Africa
This study addresses a critical gap in understanding PPE utilization in Ethiopia and contributes to the growing workplace safety research in low-income countries
Summary
Use of personal protective equipment is one of the important measures to safeguard workers from exposure to occupational hazards, especially in developing countries. The present study has determined the magnitude of personal protective equipment utilization and identified associated factors among textile factory workers at Hawassa Town, southern Ethiopia. The International Labour Organization has estimated that over 2 million people die every year from workrelated accidents and diseases, and over 300 million non-fatal accidents are recorded each year [1]. This translates into more than 6000 deaths and over 800,000. Workers, employers and government lost direct and indirect costs related to workplace injuries and illnesses [8]. The direct costs for workers include pain and suffering from the injury or illness, loss of income, loss of a job and health-care costs, and while the indirect costs include time lost by family members to care the disabled worker and utmost economic shock and social chaos [9, 10]
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