International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health (nepjol.info)
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Absenteeism among female pluckers in a tea plantation in south India
Get PDFBackground: The tea industry which is one of the world’s oldest agro-based industry provides direct employment to more than a million workers, of which most are women. Two of the main causes for decreased tea production in India is due to shortage of pluckers and their absenteeism which impacts tea productivity. So, this study was undertaken to study absenteeism rates and the causes of absenteeism among female pluckers in a tea plantation in South India.
Methodology: This was a cross section study undertaken in tea estates located in Anamalais, Tamilnadu. All female pluckers working in the estates were eligible to part of the study. The study population consisted of 256 female tea pluckers who were selected at random and an interview schedule was used to collect the following information – socio-demographic status, nature of the job, job satisfaction and reasons for absenteeism.
Results: The study population consisted of 80.9% permanent workers and 19.1% temporary workers, with an average work experience of 21.6years.The main cause of absenteeism was health related (47.8%), followed by visit to native place (29.3%), then illness among family members (15.7%) and either lazy of bored to report to work (7.2%).There was an association between absenteeism and hospitalization in the past one year, increasing number of children in the family and the number of years of work experience.
Conclusion: Majority of the pluckers were in the age group of 40-45 years. Women in this age group are more vulnerable to health issues such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, work related musculoskeletal disorders and also probably time taken off to take care of dependents apart from house old chores. Increasing age, illness of self or family member were the most important factors which contributed to increase absenteeism.  
Intention, barriers and opportunities to exit from commercial sex work among female sex workers in Ethiopia: Qualitative study
Get PDFBackground: Commercial sex work exposed women to countless risks and exit is recommended as an essential strategy to tackle those risks. Intention to exit can predict women’s actual exit potential from commercial sex work. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to explore intention, barriers and facilitating situations to exit from commercial sex work among female sex workers in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
Method: We conducted qualitative research among 18 female sex workers using in-depth interviews. Once data was collected with the local language, we transcribed the recorded data and translated to English before exporting to ATLASti7 to facilitate the data analysis process. We used respondent-driven sampling to recruit study participants. We implemented the inductive thematic analysis approach.
Result and discussion: Women had a strong intention to exit from commercial sex work. Although women intended to give up on commercial sex work, they needed to pass barriers like financial insecurity, social stigma and discrimination, skill gap, lack of support and poor education status before they successfully exit. Their demand for minimal financial supports to open a private business and strong motivation are opportunities for a successful exit from commercial sex work.
Conclusion: Women had a strong intention to exit from commercial sex work though they demanded support from others. Therefore, government and other stakeholders need to provide comprehensive support to commercial sex workers like financial support, fill skill gap and improve poor saving habit through training and establish functioning rehabilitation centers for drug addict women
Health Risk Behaviors of Employees in Selected Oil Servicing Companies in Port Harcourt
Get PDFBackground: The recent rate of deaths of worker in the oil industry is alarming. However, the way managers of the workers handle the problem is even more worrisome. This study investigated the health risk behaviours of employees in selected oil servicing companies in Port Harcourt city, Nigeria.
Methods: The study adopted the purposive sampling technique to select three notable oil servicing firms in the area and then selected 175 workers of the 350 workers as target population. Questionnaires were used to elicit information regarding the subject matters from the respondents. Data generated were presented in tables, while percentages were used as a yardstick for conclusions.
Results: Findings showed that most of the respondents exceeded driving speed limit (73.6%), do not get enough rest (84.9%), alcohol consumption (76.1%), cannot manage their individual stress (75.9%), having more than one sexual partners (74.8%). Also noted in the study is that most workers do not maintain low sugar diet (65.6%), do not take adequate fruits/vegetables (54.1%), do not get adequate sleep (54.6%), regular exposure to sun (58.5%), not coping with work stress (59.2%) and not socializing with friends (56%).
Conclusions: As a result of these findings, it was recommended that, there is need for supervisors of the workers to engage the workers in round table discussions that will ease the stress and psychological imbalance of the workers, the supervisors are advised at the instant of this research, to institute periodical exercises for workers to keep them fit and encourage healthy living, finally, there is need for awareness campaign by the companies for the purpose of re-orienting the workers on the need to practice with safety always
Health and safety issues among construction workers in Bangladesh
Get PDFBackground: Bangladesh is a rapidly developing country. Lots of infrastructures are set up every year. A large number of people are working in the construction industry. Work related injuries and deaths of construction workers are common. The aim of this study was to find the health and safety awareness of informal construction workers.
Methodology: This study was a cross sectional study by using a preset questionnaire among the construction workers in Bangladesh.
Results: Participants of this study had lower income and education. About 87% of participants did not receive any health and safety training and did not wear safety equipment when they were working. About 57% of the participants had a history of injury. This study also found that the main reasons for the non-use of safety equipment were lack of safety equipment, motivation and training.
Conclusion: Construction workers are not adequately aware about health and safety issues that relate to them
Occupational injuries sustained by caregivers in geriatric care homes of Kathmandu valley
Get PDFBackground: Ageing is an inevitable process. The population of elderly is increasing in Nepal. Caring of elderly at geriatric care homes is becoming popular. Caregivers take care of the elderly in the geriatric care homes. Occupational injuries are very common and no study has been done to document the injuries sustained by caregivers working in geriatric care homes in Nepal. This study has been conducted to determine the prevalence of work related musculoskeletal disorders and the injuries sustained among care givers working in geriatric care homes in Nepal.
Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study design. A convenience sample of 41 caregivers among geriatric care homes in Kathmandu valley aged between 20-45 years were included in the study. The Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire was adapted to measure Musculoskeletal Disorders in the study population. Descriptive analysis of data was done. Type of injury was classified and their consequences observed.
Results: Caregivers (n=41) reported work related musculoskeletal disorders in six areas of the questionnaire: Neck 4 (9.75 %), Shoulder 8(19.5%), Elbow 4(9.75%), Low back 22(53.65%), Knee 5(12.19%) and ankle 3(7.31%). Common types of injuries sustained were muscle strain, ligament sprain, joint pain, hernia etc. In most of the cases, caregivers had to take interventions like taking medications, exercises, rest while some were able to get away with minor symptoms.
Conclusion: The incidence of occupational injuries among caregivers is high. The existing training programs are not enough. A revision of the course work for training of caregivers is necessar
Prevalence of Bullying among Nurses in a Tertiary Hospital, Bangalore
Get PDFBackground: In the last decade, research conducted in different countries has shown that bullying in the health care sector especially among nurses is a widespread and serious problem. Bullying of nurses at workplace affects their quality of life, hinders delivery of quality healthcare and contributes to increase in workplace stress. So, this study was conducted to assess the prevalence of work place bullying among nurses working in a tertiary care hospital in Bangalore.
Methods: This study was conducted among 300 staff nurses providing in-patient services in a tertiary health care hospital located in Bangalore. The required sample was selected utilizing the documents maintained in the office of Chief of Nursing Services and using computer generated random numbers. The data was collected using self-administered questionnaire which comprised of socio-demographic factors and Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised.
Results: Among the 297 respondents, 26.9% were victims of bullying in the past six months according to Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R). Among the participants who were bullied, those exposed to work-related bullying, person-related bullying and physical intimidation were 80%, 60% and 21.3% respectively.
Conclusion: This study suggests existence of work place bullying among nurses which can adversely affect their performance as health care professionals and their quality of personal life
Depressive Symptoms and Perceived Stress among Estate Rubber Tappers in Southern Sri Lanka
Get PDFBackground: Rubber production is an important component of the Sri Lankan economy. Prior reports have raised concerns about poverty and poor physical and social living conditions among rubber tappers.Objective: To assess rubber tappers’ psychological health and distress.Methods and Material: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 300 rubber tappers in two large rubber plantations in southern Sri Lanka from September to November 2014. Structured questionnaires including the Peradeniya Depression Scale (PDS) and the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) were administered. The prevalences of depression and stress were calculated, including across sociodemographic and work history variables of interest.Results: Each plantation contributed 150 of the 300 participants. The majority were women (n = 183, 61%) with a median age of 47 years (range 21 to 89). Based on the PDS, 9% of the rubber tappers screened positive for depression. While on the PSS-10, 10% demonstrated a high level of perceived stress. On log-binomial regression, persons who were widowed, divorced, or separated compared to being married had a higher prevalence of depression and high stress. A higher prevalence of stress was found in Tamil versus Sinhalese as well as Christian versus Buddhist participants. A higher prevalence of depression was seen in workers with over 30 years of experience compared to less experienced counterparts.Conclusions: Depression was more common in rubber tappers in this study than among other non-plantation Sri Lankan populations. Further research is needed to elucidate factors associated with psychological distress and to foster support mechanisms for the rubber tappers
Prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in agricultural farmers of Bhaktapur District, Nepal
Get PDFBackground: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are present in a range of occupations. This is confirmed from a number of studies done around the world. However, few attempts have been done to document the presence of musculoskeletal disorders in occupational diseases in Nepal and there are hardly any studies done to see musculoskeletal disorders in farmers of Nepal. Nepal is an agricultural country and traditional practices in farming are adopted demanding a lot on the manual work.
Objectives: Aim of this study is to find out the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in Bhaktapur district of Nepal.
Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study design. A convenience sample of 246 farmers from Bhaktapur district, Nepal aged between 24-65 years, were included in the study. The Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire was a tool adapted to measure MSDs in the farmers. Descriptive analysis of data was done.
Results: Farmers (n=246) reported pain in all the nine areas of the body mentioned in the questionnaire. More than 70% of farmers have some kind of musculoskeletal disorders. However, six major areas of pain were identified as: Neck-31(12.6 %), Shoulder-26(10.6%), Elbow- 30(12.2%), Low back- 89(36.2%), Knee- 53(21.5%) and ankle 32(13%).
Conclusion: The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in farmers is very high. Lack of awareness about the MSDs and improper knowledge of ergonomics causes the problems
Knowledge, Perception and Practice of Safety Measures Related to Workplace Hazards among Manual Stone Crushing Workers in Sokoto, Nigeria
Get PDFBackground: Although manual stone crushing activities provide income to families, the working conditions are often unhealthy and dangerous and employees are ignorantly exposed to different hazardous materials particularly dust particles.
Objectives: To assess Knowledge, perception, and Practice of occupational safety measures related to workplace hazards among manual stone crushing workers.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 156 informal small-scale quarries for construction materials workers in Sokoto metropolis. The respondents were selected using a simple random sampling technique and data collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Descriptive, bivariate and binary logistic regression analyses were performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23 and results presented in tables.
Results: Respondents median age was 23 years, interquartile range: 18.3 – 28.0. Adolescents and young adults accounted for 54.4% of the workforce. All the respondents were males and 69.9% had no formal education. Only 25% had good knowledge of workplace hazard and as high as 63% have a low-risk perception of the hazards. Very few (7.7%) reported the use of personal protective equipment. Only awareness of disease risk (aOR =5.25, P <0.001) was the predictor of respondents’ knowledge of workplace hazards. Predictors for risk perception level of workplace hazards were respondents’ knowledge (aOR = 0.33, p˂0.01); Aware of risk of disease (aOR =2.92, P <0.01); and employment status (aOR = 0.31, p˂0.03).
Conclusions: Poor knowledge and low-risk perception of workplace hazards are very prevalent among workers and very few reported use of personal protective equipment. Training and awareness creation on workplace hazards are highly recommended