ISSN: 2329-6879

Occupational Medicine & Health Affairs
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  • Research Article   
  • Occup Med Health 2022, Vol 10(11): 437
  • DOI: 10.4172/2329-6879.1000437

Occupational Health and Safety Practices among Workers Involved Wastewater Collection and Treatment in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Andualem Mekonnen Hiruy1*, Alemseged Tamiru Haile2, Kishor Acharya3 and David Werner3
1Center for Environmental Science, Addis Ababa University, P.O.Box 33348 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
3School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
*Corresponding Author : Andualem Mekonnen Hiruy, Center for Environmental Science, Addis Ababa University, P.O.Box 33348 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Email: andumk21@gmail.com

Received Date: Nov 01, 2022 / Published Date: Nov 30, 2022

Abstract

Workers involved in sewage collection, transport and treatment are exposed to different types of occupational health and safety hazards. The objective of this study was to assess the occupation health and safety awareness and practices of workers involved in wastewater management system in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A cross sectional design was used to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of the workers. The survey was conducted using mobile phones and the mWater surveyor platform to maintain social distancing due to COVID-19 and a total of fifty respondents were involved in the study. All respondents stated that they frequently wash hands at the workplace. However, due to lack of adequate facilities, 12 % of workers do not change their work costumes before having lunch and neither washes their costume nor takes a shower before leaving the workplace. Only few workers (96 %) use a facemask, goggle and apron. The workers are directly exposed to different hazards due to lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and/or reluctance to use PPE. The medical histories of the workers suggest that they have been exposed to various health problems due to exposure to hazards at the workplace. The findings of this study indicate that urgent action is needed to provide more PPE, showering facilities, and also to provide awareness and training on occupational health and safety to workers in order to prevent them from aforementioned hazards during wastewater collection, transport and treatment.

Keywords: Wastewater collection; Occupational Hazard; Knowledge and Practice; Personal Protective Equipment

Citation: Hiruy AM, Haile AT, Acharya K, Werner D (2022) Occupational Health and Safety Practices among Workers Involved Wastewater Collection and Treatment in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Occup Med Health 10: 437. Doi: 10.4172/2329-6879.1000437

Copyright: © 2022 Hiruy AM, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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