Impact of Occupational-Risk Intervention Program on Knowledge and Perception of Safety Practices Among Artisans in Southwest Nigeria.

Abstract:

Background: Hazards in the workplace pose a major, yet often overlooked, problem globally, particularly in developing countries. Although research on work-related injuries and illnesses among artisans in low- and middle-income countries (lmics) like Nigeria are limited and of varying qualities, available reports suggest that work-related mortality rates in lmics are higher than those in high-income countries. Therefore, this study assessed the effect of Occupational Risk Intervention Program on knowledge and perception towards safety practices among artisans in South West Nigeria. Methodology: The study employed a quasi-experimental design. A sample size of 30 artisan’s workers for each group was derived using the Power formula. Two states were selected purposively from six states in southwest Nigeria. Two Local Government Areas were randomly selected in Lagos States as the Experimental group (EG) and two LGAs were selected in Ekiti state as the Control group (CG). A structured validated questionnaire with Cronbach’s alpha reliability index ranging from 0.703 to 0.812 was used to collect data. Data was collected at baseline, immediate post-intervention and six weeks follow-up. Data was analysed using descriptive, and inferential statistics at 5% level of significance. Results: Findings showed that at baseline, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the mean scores of knowledge of safety practices for EG (5.62 ± 0.38) and CG (8.07 ± 0.23). There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the mean scores of perception towards safety practices for EG (29.50 ± 2.00) and CG (28.15 ± 1.44). Furthermore, there was a significant difference (p 0.05) in the knowledge and perception of safety practices among artisans in the control group and artisans in the experimental group at 12th follow up, greatly due to the occupational-risk intervention program. Conclusion: The implementation of an educational intervention program has the potential to increase the knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy of artisans towards safety practices and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), ultimately leading to a reduction in occupational risks and hazards. As a consequence, the educational intervention program had a significant impact on the level of knowledge and perception towards safety practices with a very large margin between the 12th week follow-up safety practices score and the baseline safety score. The educational intervention program had a significant impact on the level of knowledge and perception towards safety practices among artisans in southwest Nigeria.