A STUDY ON AWARENESS AND PREVENTIVE PRACTICES OF COBBLESTONE WORKERS ON OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS IN ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA.
- Department of Biological Sciences, Dire Dawa University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Abstract
- Keywords
- References
- Cite This Article as
- Corresponding Author
Cobblestone work has been becoming a good job opportunity in Ethiopia.Workers have involved in cutting, drilling, handling, loading, transporting, chiseling and paving activities that expose them to various occupational hazards. This study was designed to assess awareness and preventive practices of cobblestone workers towards occupational hazards in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Cross sectional study and random sampling was used. Totally,155 (82 chiseling and 73 quarry) workers were participated. Questionnaire, structured interview and observational checklist were used for data collection. Workers awareness and preventive practices were found to be very low. Their habit to utilize personal protective devices and availability were too limited. Workers should be trained and appropriate personal protective devices should be accessible to them. Policy and guidelines should be developed for regular inspection and for co-operation between workers and competent authorities.
- International Labour Organization; the Prevention of Occupational Diseases. World Day for Safety and Health at Work. 28 April, 2013.
- Mariammal T., Amutha Jaisheeba A. and Sornaraj R. Work Related Respiratory Symptoms and Pulmonary Function Tests Observed Among Construction and Sanitary Workers of Thoothukudi. International Journal of Pharm Tech Research CODEN (USA): 2012;Vol. 4: No.3: 1266-1273.
- Driscoll T. The burden of occupational disease and injury in New Zealand: Technical Report. NOHSAC: Wellington, 2004.
4. Matt Loxham. Microscopic dust particles found in underground railways may pose health risk. Phys.org. University of Southampton. 2013.
- Nwibo A; Pulmonary Problems among Quarry Workers of Stone Crushing Industrial Site at Umuoghara, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.2012; 3:178-185.
- Government of Alberta, Human Services. Occupational Health and Safety Bulletin. Crystalline Silica at the Work Site, Chemical Hazards Revised November: 2009
- Occupational Knowledge International (OKI). Silica Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, 2013
- Ugbogu O.C., Ohakwe J. and Foltescu V. Occurrence of respiratory and skin problems among manual stone-quarrying workers. African Journal of Respiratory Medicine,2009, 23-26
- Dirk Demol; Assessment of exposure in epidemiological studies: the example of silica dust. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. 2008; 18: 452–461
- Safe Workplace Promotion Services (SWPS). Silica in the Workplace. 2011
- Crystalline Silica exposure health hazard information. Informational fact sheets High lighting Occupational safety and health administrative OSHA S.A department of labor, 2002.
- Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Ministry of Labour and Social Occupational Safety and Health Directive. Addis Ababa, May, 2008.
- Occupational exposure to airborne substances harmful to health. International Labour Office Geneva, 1980.
- Meeting of experts on ambient factors in the workplace: An ILO code of practice Geneva: International Labour Organization. In: UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre Publications.
- Occupational Health and Safety. An Annotated Bibliography of Research and Related Literature (1998-2003), Website: http//www.unevoc.unesco.org/publication. Published on July, 2004. Accessed on June, 2013.
- Safety, health and welfare on construction sites; A training manual International Labour Organization Geneva, 1999.
- Yalemtsehay Mekonnen and Tadesse Agonafir. Personal Protective Equipment use by farm workers in Ethiopia Pesticides News No. 55, March 2002, page 15
- Mengesha A. and Bekele A. Effect of acute exposure to different occupational dusts on pulmonary function indices of factory workers in Ethiopia. Afr newslett on occup health and safety 1997; 714-16
[Hailemariam Mamo and Yoseph A. Mengesha (2016); A STUDY ON AWARENESS AND PREVENTIVE PRACTICES OF COBBLESTONE WORKERS ON OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS IN ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA. Int. J. of Adv. Res. 4 (Dec). 1788-1792] (ISSN 2320-5407). www.journalijar.com
Dire dawa University and Addis Ababa University
