Department of Biological, Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
Department of Epidemiology and Disease Control, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
J Environ Public Health. 2021 Dec 31;2021:6914529. doi: 10.1155/2021/6914529. eCollection 2021.
Globally, occupational injuries account for 15% of the mortalities associated with occupational accidents. The work of the solid waste collectors exposes them to numerous occupational hazards, which results in injuries. Increasing rates of occupational injuries from 43.7% to 63.9% among solid waste collectors in sub-Saharan Africa opens room for more research to be done. The study assessed the magnitude of occupational injuries and associated factors among solid waste collectors of Zoomlion Ghana Limited in the Accra Metropolis.
A cross-sectional quantitative study was carried out among the solid waste collectors. The occupational injuries and their associated factors among the solid waste collectors were assessed using questionnaires. Multistage sampling approach was used to select study respondents. Data were collected through the administration of questionnaires. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association between the dependent and independent variables.
In this study, 21.79% (78/358) with 95% CI (0.1749, 0.2608) among the solid waste collectors reported having at least one work-related injury in the last 6 months. The factors that were significantly associated with at least one occupational injury among the solid waste collectors in the Accra Metropolis were work duty (collection and transportation), the zone of assignment for respondents, and lack of personal protective equipment (PPE).
This study showed that the prevalence of occupational injuries among municipal solid waste collectors in the Accra Metropolis was lower as compared to similar research conducted in Ethiopia, Egypt, and India. Working in the collection and transportation category and lack of PPE for use at work were significantly and positively associated with occupational injury among the solid waste collectors. Again, working in the La Dade Kotopon zone had reduced odds of sustaining injuries as compared to those in the Ablekuma South zone. The result of the study demonstrated that cuts/puncture was the injury that was mostly sustained by the municipal solid waste workers, while the leg was the body part that was mostly injured followed by the hands. Public health education in the municipality should target solid waste collectors with the aim of improving their health-seeking behaviour.
在全球范围内，职业伤害占与职业事故相关的死亡人数的 15%。固体废物收集者的工作使他们面临许多职业危害，导致受伤。撒哈拉以南非洲固体废物收集者的职业伤害率从 43.7%上升到 63.9%，这为进一步研究提供了空间。本研究评估了在阿克拉都会区的 Zoomlion 加纳有限公司的固体废物收集者中职业伤害的严重程度及其相关因素。
对固体废物收集者进行了横断面定量研究。使用问卷评估固体废物收集者的职业伤害及其相关因素。采用多阶段抽样方法选择研究对象。通过问卷调查收集数据。采用二变量和多变量逻辑回归评估因变量和自变量之间的关系。
在这项研究中，358 名固体废物收集者中有 21.79%（78/358）在过去 6 个月内至少报告了一次与工作相关的伤害，95%CI（0.1749，0.2608）。与阿克拉都会区固体废物收集者至少发生一次职业伤害显著相关的因素是工作职责（收集和运输）、受访者的工作区域以及缺乏个人防护设备（PPE）。
本研究表明，与在埃塞俄比亚、埃及和印度进行的类似研究相比，阿克拉都会区城市固体废物收集者的职业伤害发生率较低。从事收集和运输工作以及缺乏工作时使用的个人防护设备与固体废物收集者的职业伤害显著正相关。此外，与位于 Ablekuma South 区的收集者相比，在 La Dade Kotopon 区工作的收集者受伤的几率较低。研究结果表明，切割/刺伤是城市固体废物工人最常受的伤害，腿部是受伤最严重的身体部位，其次是手部。应在该市镇开展公共卫生教育，以目标固体废物收集者为对象，提高他们的寻医行为。
