Balkhyour Mansour A, Ahmad Ijaz, Rehan Mohammad
Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80208, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Centre of Excellence in Environmental Studies (CEES), King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Saudi J Biol Sci. 2019 May;26(4):653-659. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2018.06.011. Epub 2018 Jun 30.
Small-scale industries account for a large proportion of jobs and play a vital role in most countries' economic growth and prosperity. Due to the very low use of personal protective equipment (PPEs), employees are exposed to numerous physical, chemical, and accidental hazards in small-scale industries. PPEs are very effective in minimizing occupational injuries, accidents, and other hazards which otherwise result in substantial manpower and financial losses. The study objective was to assess the availability and use of PPEs as well as self-reported occupational exposures among workers in surveyed small industries in Jeddah. The study involved 102 workers from 28 small-scale industries (vehicle repair, welding, and paint). A survey was conducted to gather data of socio-demographic characteristics, self-reported occupational exposures, and frequency of PPEs used by workers. The occupational exposures (never exposed, sometimes exposed and always exposed) were reported in percentages including; noise exposure (19.6, 73.5 and 6.9%); dust/smoke exposure (9.8, 69.6 and 20.6%); vapors/fumes exposure (11.8, 60.8 and 27.5%); and direct sunlight (43.1, 56.9 and 0%), respectively. The reported use of different PPEs in descending order was; knee joints mats (50%), welding shields (50%), safety glasses (33.3%), gloves (27.5%), face masks (26.5%), safety shoes (10.8%) and earplugs/ muffs (8.8%). On the basis of this study findings, hand hygiene and general OSH awareness like interventions can be developed which will help in minimizing workplace exposures among small-scale industry workers.
小规模工业在就业中占很大比例，并且在大多数国家的经济增长和繁荣中发挥着至关重要的作用。由于个人防护装备（PPE）的使用率极低，小规模工业中的员工面临众多物理、化学和意外危险。个人防护装备在将职业伤害、事故和其他危险降至最低方面非常有效，否则这些危险会导致大量人力和财力损失。该研究的目的是评估吉达市被调查的小型工业中工人个人防护装备的可用性和使用情况以及自我报告的职业暴露情况。该研究涉及来自28个小规模工业（车辆维修、焊接和油漆）的102名工人。进行了一项调查，以收集社会人口特征、自我报告的职业暴露以及工人使用个人防护装备的频率等数据。职业暴露情况（从未暴露、有时暴露和总是暴露）以百分比报告，包括：噪声暴露（19.6%、73.5%和6.9%）；粉尘/烟雾暴露（9.8%、69.6%和20.6%）；蒸汽/烟雾暴露（11.8%、60.8%和27.5%）；以及直射阳光暴露（43.1%、56.9%和0%）。报告的不同个人防护装备的使用情况从高到低依次为：膝关节护垫（50%）、焊接面罩（50%）、安全眼镜（33.3%）、手套（27.5%）、口罩（26.5%）、安全鞋（10.8%）和耳塞/耳罩（8.8%）。基于本研究结果，可以制定手部卫生和一般职业安全与健康意识等干预措施，这将有助于减少小规模工业工人在工作场所的暴露。
