Knowledge and practice related to Occupational Hazards among Maruti Cement Factory workers in Mirchaiya, Siraha, Nepal

Abstract

The main objective of the study is to find out the knowledge, practice and use of Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) among workers of cement factory limited located at Mirchaiya, Siraha, Nepal. We have tried to identify the various sources of information regarding occupational hazards, frequency of health visit in case of health problems or illness, hygiene practices among factory workers and sociodemographic characteristics like age, sex, marital status, income among the workers of cement factory. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study containing both qualitative and quantitative data. The primary data has been collected through semi-structured questionnaire assisted by researcher. Non-purposive sampling technique was used during the collection of data. Nearly three fourths of the respondents had satisfactory knowledge about occupational hazards. 86% workers responded as Tuberculosis to be the disease caused during work in cement factories. All the workers had some basic knowledge about PPE but only 33% of workers said that mask, gloves, boot and clothes fall under PPE. More than three fourths had knowledge regarding the effectiveness of the PPE. 96% of the total respondents used PPE during their working time. About 31% workers had been suffering from illness. 72% workers had a trend to visit doctor only in case of illness or if required. Only 82% workers had a trend to wash eyes with water only in case of dust present in eye. Similarly, only 78% workers had a practice of hand washing with water. And, only 4% of the co-workers had information regarding occupational hazards and use of PPE. We conclude that the variables having significant influence on the knowledge and practice of workers about occupational hazards were education, receiving information about the job-associated hazards, and attending a training course about occupational health and safety. These variables should be taken into consideration in any program addressing occupational health and safety issues in Nepal.

Occupational Health Risk among Selected Cement Factory Workers in Dang District of Nepal

“…Present study showed 13.2% of workers have respiratory risk while a similar study conducted in Maruti cement factory, Siraha and Udaypur cement factory showed 39% and 24.1% workers respectively were suffering from any illness (15,16) . But, finding of the Dejen cement factory showed higher prevalence (62.9%) (20) .…”

“…In the Maruti cement factory, 98% had knowledge of the benefits of PPE while in this study 86% and 83.5% told disease prevention and accident prevention as benefits of PPE. Similarly, 90% of workers have received training while only 70.3% received training on occupational health and safety in the present study (15) . Among total study participants, 87.7% use PPE in this study while only 79% used in Udaypur cement factory (16) and 31.2% used in cement factory of Ethiopia (20) , 96% used in Maruti cement factory (15) and 99% of the workers used PPE as per the study of Aliae Mohamed Hussain (27) .…”

“…Stratification was done based on the location of factories registered. Study sample was determined by Cochran formula with prevalence of 39% percent occupational health risk in Maruti cement factory (15) . Total sample of 212 was considered including 10% of non-response.…”

“…The occupational health risk tool developed by Syed Sana and et.al 2013 (17) was used as a reference. Similarly, for knowledge and practice questions, reference of a tool developed by Jay Prakash Sah and et.al 2015 (15) was used. For the development of the workplace environment checklist, reference to workplace safety and prevention services (18) was used.…”

“…Study on Maruti cement factory workers reflected that 84% did not know cement factory policies, only 33% of workers had knowledge on all types of PPE measures and 39% of workers suffered from occupational illness (15) . Similarly, Udaypur cement factory workers reflected the high prevalence of respiratory problems.…”