Assessment of occupational injuries among Addis Ababa city municipal solid waste collectors: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundCollection of household waste is a job which requires repeated heavy physical activities such as lifting, carrying, pulling, and pushing. Like many developing countries, in Ethiopia municipal solid waste is collected manually. Therefore, this study is aimed to assess the extent of occupational injuries and associated factors among solid waste collectors in Addis Ababa City.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 876 respondents sampled from 92 unions. A pre-tested structured questionnaire and observation check list were used to collect data. Crude odds ratio with 95% CI was computed to see the presence of association between selected independent variables and occupational injury. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was made to see the relative effect of independent variable on the dependent variable by controlling the effect of other variables. To maintain stability, only variables that have a p-value less than 0.30 in the binary logistic regression analysis were kept in the subsequent model. Enter method was used hierarchically.ResultsThe response rate of this study was 97.9%. Female respondents accounted 71.2%. The median age of the study subjects was 33 year (with 52 inter quartile range). The overall occupational injury prevalence rate in the last 12 months was 383 (43.7%). Utilization of personal protective devices and family size in the household were statistically associated with injury. As compared to workers who used personal protective equipments while being on duty, odds of injury among workers not used personal protective equipments were 2.62 higher (AOR = 2.62, 95% CI: 1.48-4.63). As compared to those who had five and more children, odds of injuries among those who had 3-4 children was reduced by half (AOR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.30-0.93).ConclusionThe extent of occupational injuries among Addis Ababa city solid waste collectors is present in a level that needs immediate public health action. Implementation of basic occupational health and safety services including training on occupational health and safety, ensuring the provision and use of personal protective devices are highly advisable.

Work related injury among Saudi Star Agro Industry workers in Gambella region, Ethiopia; a cross-sectional study

“…This finding is in agreement with studies done in large manufacturing industry in Addis Ababa, study done in Tendho agricultural industry in Afar, study done on small and medium enterprise in Gondar, and study done on occupational injuries among Addis Ababa city municipal solid waste collectors [7, 8, 18, 24]. Similar finding is also observed on studies done on injuries and fatalities in U.S farmers and agricultural injuries on older farmers in Kentucky [22, 23].…”

Possible Health Danger Associated With Gabbage/Refuse Collectors

“…23.3% of the respondents disagree that cutsto the hand by broken bottle/glass is a cause of injury during waste collection while 76.7% complain of cutsto their hand due to non-use of hand gloves and this corroborates with the submission of Bogale et al(2014) that hands were the most injured body parts and cuts were the most common injury type waste collectors were exposed to while on duty. 30% of the total population disagree that cuts to the leg by broken bottle/glass are prevalent injuries and 70% accept they are due to not usingprotective footwear or any protective equipment on their legs.…”

Magnitude and patterns of injuries among patients in Gondar University Hospital, northwest Ethiopia: an institutional-based study

“…In this study, occupational injury accounted for 4.06%, which is smaller than a study conducted in the Gondar town (38.7%) 20 and Addis Ababa city (43.7%). 21 This difference might be explained by the difference in the study area.…”