Occupational health and safety practices among sanitary workers in Kumasi

Abstract

The exposure to hazards from office cleaning, sweeping, janitorial services, fumigation, weeding, operating of pump stations and solid waste collection puts sanitary workers at risk of accidents and ailments. This study sought to identify work related hazards, assess health and safety measures and develop a risk ranking system among private and public sanitary workers. The study employed a cross-sectional descriptive study design and multistage sampling technique. A total of 385 sanitary workers selected from private companies (257) and public institutions (128) participated in this study. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews with the use of semi-structured questionnaires. Chi-square and odds ratio analysis were to determine the association between work-related accidents and some specific variables among the private and public sectors using the Microsoft Excel and SPSS software version 25. Females constituted about half (50.6%) of the total study respondents. However, males dominated (77.3%) the public sanitation industry while in the private sector about two-thirds (64.6%) were females. The results of work-related accidents were more prevalent among sanitary workers in the private sector (57.3%). The results showed that public-sector sanitary workers were twice more likely (OR: 2.12: 95% CI 1.38-3.27) to be involved in work-related accidents than private-sector sanitary workers. Musculoskeletal disorders (75%) and respiratory infections (67%) were the two commonest illnesses experienced by the sanitary workers in both sectors. Comparatively, public sector workers constituted the majority that was provided medical healthcare (56.3%) and refund (46.5%) as compared to the private sector workers where the majority relied on self-medication (87.4%) and less than a tenth (9.5%) were given refunds for medical treatment. Again, the majority of public sector workers (60.9%) were medically screened as compared to the private sector University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh xiii workers (4.7%). Street sweepers, formal solid waste collectors and janitors in health institutions had the highest average work-related risk scores. There is the need for policy makers to design a comprehensive health and safety policy that would focus on training, the use of tools and protective equipment and proper medical healthcare given to sanitary workers.