University of Nigeria Virtual Library

Serial No ISSN:0189-3491

Author 1 UGWU, Leonard I. Author 2 UGWU, Dorothy I. Author 3

Title

Knowledge and Preventive Practices

of Occupational Hazards Among Employees in a Large-Scale Industry

Keywords

Description

Knowledge and Preventive Practices

of Occupational Hazards Among Employees in a Large-Scale Industry

Category Social Sciences

Publisher

The Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Publication Date 2006

Signature

KNOWLEDGE AND PREVENTNE. PRACTICES REGARDING OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS AMONG EMPLOYEES IN A

LARGISSCALR INDUSTRY

Leomard I. ugwu a Department of Psychohgy Enngn State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Enugu

Dorothy I. Ugwu Department of Physical and Health Education

Uniwemity of Nigeria, Nsukka

ABsT'RAm

This studg invesiigated employees' knowledge and preventive pradces regarding -and hamrds in Anambra Motor Manufacturing Obrnpany (ANAMXI), Enugu. ?bo hundred and tusenwne employees (122 senior rmd 9 junior staff) participated in the study. A 2a-itan knowledge rmd preventive practices scale dmlopwl by ihe m r s was used for data collection. T w hypotfwses urrrre tested. Results showed that employees of the firm demonstmted high leuel of knowledge of the hazards associated noilh their job, f = lo.=, P

Ernploycc Knowledge of Occupational Hazards and Pmmmth Prreticcs

--... . x---

1; managen

Participants The sample for the ! stratified sampling tec Anambra Motor Mai Available data on the I of sampling proportic selected from eight ser of the number of work workers, mechanical I! 39, catering 81 and participated in the stuc

;e the former use techno1ogks that am km identifying the extent to which employees d veloping nations are aware of the daqym off ... - - - -

of the world becaw For Falana (1997), i ring industries in de ace cnvironment should be the pnority area 01 re?search. lolulu (1997) identified many hazards in Nigeria &a cessive heat, excessive cold, harmful dusts and s p q toxk xposures, light radiations, humidity, repetitive nd physical workload. However, this classifica

can ID^ subsumed under the general classification by the Wodd Hadtufa Organization (WHO) (1997), which classified industrial h;lz9A= h-= mechanical, ergonomically poor working conditions, b~ physical factors, reproductive hazards; allergenic agents, c social hazards, and psychological stress. The study ex classifications put forward by WHO (1997) and it b asmmm mat tmgmpes who are knowledgeable of the harmful effects of the work mnditiom a m ma& likely to indulge in safe behaviour in the world of refer to all actions taken by the management as towards averting hazardous work conditions.

The study is anchored on Fisher and Fisher (1992) t h e o ~ o f ~ action. According to this theory, one of the determinants sf dismwe prevention (occupational hazards) is the belief of their negati\v bw m human health and their severity. It assumed that individuals are R&dy tka adopt healthy behaviour if they perceive that: they are -pWe to ihmq conseauences of infection are severe; and effective solutions mi&

;allowing from the above, it is assumed that emp1arps amdj/umr lent of the organization are like

~ueasu~ed if they are aware that the work dangers (hazards); consequences of these severe; and effective ways of averting such situation exists (prmenntkmj. I& is then hypothesized that employees of the Motor Manufichu& low-level knowledge of the harmful effects of their work con& employees with high-level of knowledge regarding occupatiod inamds wiillfl not differ from employees with low-level of knowledge in taking p m - measures to avert hazards associated with their workplace.

METHOD

study comprised 221 workers selected by mnmm df chnique from a total workforce of =I em- ad' wfacturing Company (ANAIblCD), Emgq N " T number of employees per section allowed shaf-" '"

mately by sections. In other woods, emplqmm weme :tions that make up each company in pmprtiam Q# a=a ers in each section. The sections anx ad ' ' ' -' 4 52, assemblage 142, health unit 61, smuiky bmsmy laundry 20 workers. Out of 221 employees Itlbaadt

dy, 122 of them were senior staff employees d

e Nigerian Journal of Psychological Research, Volume 5 (2006): 62-6 them were junior employees. Their ages ranged from 22 to 57 with mear of 42.58 years.

Instrument The instrument used for data collection was a no-item question^ developed by the researchers, which was designed to measure knowledge preventive practices regarding occupational hazards. The question] consisted of three sections, with personal data of the respondents, such a status and work sections. Ten items measure employees' knowledge o nine components of hazards, as identified by World Health Organizi (WHO, 1997), namely: social, chemical, psychological stress, mechar biological, allergenic agents, physical hazards, reproductive hazards ergonomically poor working environment. Item 3 in the question] measures social hazards, items 4 and 5 measure chemical hazards, itc measures psychological stress, item 8 measures biological hazards, itc measures allergenic agent, item lo measures physical hazards, itel measures ergonomically poor working conditions while item 12 mea! reproductive hazards. Items 13 to 22 measure employees' preve practice regarding occupational hazards. Respondents were requested tc '

score; know classi

Mant assoc of thc with 1

Tab11 and c

doyee Knowledge of Occupational Hazards and Preventive Practices 65

s fall between 40-59 were considered as having moderate level of

The results in table I above show that employees of Anambra Motor ~facturing Company demonstrated high level of knowledge of the hazards iated with their job, ~2 = 10.75, p < .05. This implies that the employees : firm are knowledgeable of the nine components of hazards associated their work.

e 11: Summary table of chi-sauare test on level of knowledge employees' preventive p

Level

Nigerian Journal of Psychological Research, Volume 5 (2006): 62-68 66 \

more, the - kanagement complements th i i effort by p&ding :es with handbills, manuals, and other instructional materials that ~t the hazards-riddled characteristics of their jobs. Alternatively, the - ". - - - - - - - - - . -

Nigerian employees are knowledgeable of the hazards associated with their work environments.

A possible explanation of this finding could be based on the fact that workshops and training sessions, which the management of the organization organizes for the employees, as reported by the sample of this study, yield positive results. It is, perhaps, in such workshops and training sessions that the emplovees are acauainted with the ~otential dangers of their workdace. Further employ( highligh high level of knowledge reported by the employees could be explained on the basis of their life experiences on the job. For instance, the employees reported that they are overloaded with jobs and as well encounter mechanical faults from the outdated equipment. In addition, some of the substanccs, which the employees of the firm use in painting cars are corrosive to the body and the shop floors where they perform the prescribed roles, are dirty, slippery and greasy. It is then most probable that the employees may have developed hazards~prone awareness through life experiences. The above explanation reinforces the famous adage, which says that life experiences are the "best teacher" of all thc socializing agents.

The finding of this study did not support the second hypothesis, a which stated that employees with high level of knowledge would not differ

significantly from employees with low-level of knowledge on preventive practices regarding occupational hazards. Employees that were more knowledgeable of the hazards associated with the characteristics of their jobs adopted more adequate precautionary measures than their counterparts with low level of knowledge of the occupational hazards. This finding is consistent with earlier findings of Cheyne, Cox, Oliver and Thomas (1998), which showed that a positive relationship exists between employees' knowledge of hazards and their preventive practices. This implies that the more knowledgeable einpbiees arc about the risks associated with their jobs, 1 more adequate precautionary measure they take to avert the hazards-prc work environments. Conversely, the less knowledgeable employees regard] the risks that characterize their jobs, the more they fail to take adequ precautionary measures. This finding supports Fisher and Fisher (ig( theory of reasoned action, which posits that employees ~ n d J o r adopt one more preventive measures if they are aware that the work conditions , riddlcd with unpleasant tasks [hazards]; the consequences of these hazards the individual health arc severe; and that cffective ways of averting sl situations exist. This, perhaps, explains why many employees who , knowledgeable of the hazards associated with their work reported that tl take more precautionary measures than their counterparts who are 1 knowledgeable of the hazardous nature of their jobs. This implies ti employees who are knowledgeable of the hazards of their workpl; e n ~ i r o n m e n t ~ p u t more hazard protective devices than their counterparts M are less knowledgeable of the dangers posed by their jobs to health. The mu employees become acquainted with the negative 'attributes of their jo become victims or witness co-workers become victims to those occupatio hazards, the more they take precautionary measures. Such life experien

- ., the me ing ate 92) or

are i to ~ c h are ley CSS hat ace rho ore bs; nal ces

doye& ~ n o w l e d ~ e of Ocdpaitional Hazards and Preventive Practices

f i e 'potential of leaving indelible marks in the employees' memory. efore, employees with high level knowledge of hazards associated with workplace may have internalized into their cognitive sets the negative

~ositive attributes of the characteristics of their jobs. Although employees of the firm, irrespective of work status, reported

the, management provides them with safety gadgets, it is only the high knowledgeable employees that observe most of the rules stipulated

,ds. Similarly, employees with low-level knowledge of hazards th their jobs reported that they do not remember to put on the :vices at their disposal. The above responses suggest that aeventive 'measures adopted by the low-level employees could be ack of knowledge of the inherent dangers of their work.

against hazar associated wi protective df inadequate PI attributed to 1

This study p ' employees i!

Employees o knowledgeabl aware of the precaut ionaq The above rc potential dan minimize uns

~rovides data on knowledge and preventive practices among n a large-scale industry regarding occupational hazards. f Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company (ANAMGO) are le of the hazards associated with their work. Employees who are dangers, which their workplace poses to their health, take more r measures than their counterparts that are less knowledgeable. :sults suggest that employees should be well informed of the gers associated with the world of work, as this will help them afe practices.

Ashur, S. S. ( nutrf in Jc Educ

Falana, A. (11 Nig el occu,

Fisher, R. D.: confl 333.

Iverson, R. D affeci 70,1:

Kerlinger, - F I-Iarc

Nworgu, B. me t.h

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