Awareness of occupational hazards and safety practices of workers in paint factories in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Abstract

There is a high prevalence of occupational accidents and injuries among factory workers whose job requires high risk in developing countries like Nigeria. The objective of this study was to examine awareness of physical, mechanical, psychosocial, ergonomic and chemical hazards and safety practices of workers in paint factories in Akwa Ibom State. Five research questions as well as five null hypotheses were formulated to give direction to the study. Correlational research design was used in the study. The population of the study comprised of 320 paint factory workers in Akwa Ibom State. Convenience sampling technique was used to select 99 paint factory workers which formed the sample for this study and a researcher-made questionnaire (AOHSWPF) with 45 items generated the data for the study. Content and construct validity of the instrument was ensured. To test the reliability of the instrument, trial test was conducted on 30 paint factory workers and the findings revealed that the Cronbach Alpha value of the instrument was 0.88. Pearson product moment correlation (PPMC) statistics was used to answer the research questions while simple linear regression was used to test the hypothesis. Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 23 (IBM Corp, 2017). All the null hypotheses were rejected in favor of the alternative hypotheses, this implies significant relationship between awareness of physical, mechanical, psychosocial, ergonomic and chemical hazards and safety practices of paint factory workers in Akwa Ibom State. Based on the findings of this study, it is here interred that while working, the workers followed safety initiatives thereby limiting exposure to hazard and promoting workplace safety. The researcher therefore recommends that there is the need to develop effective framework that will promote the integration and implementation of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) regulations and guidelines in paint factories so as to reduce associated occupational hazards in Nigeria in line with Global best practices.