Prevalence and associated factors of occupational injuries among municipal solid waste collectors in four zones of Amhara region, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundRefuse collectors are at a high risk for fatal and non-fatal occupational accidents. This is more intensified in developing countries, like Ethiopia, due to physically demanding nature of the job. However, information on occupational injuries and related factors are almost non-existent in Ethiopia. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of occupational injuries and its associated factors.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among municipal solid waste collectors in four zones of Amhara region from February to May 2015. Computer generated simple random sampling technique was used to select the samples. Interviewer administrated questionnaires were used for the data collection process. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the association between outcome variables and explanatory variables.ResultsIn this study, the annual prevalence of at least one occupational injury among solid waste workers was 34.3 % (95 % CI: 29.52, 39.10). Of these, 50.7 % of them were visited health facility to receive health care. The independent predictors of at least one occupational injury were shorter service years, low monthly salary, history of job related stress, and sleeping disturbance related to the job. Being illiterate, having lower monthly income, and those who reported sleeping disturbance were significantly and positively associated with severe occupational injuries of solid waste collectors.ConclusionThe magnitude of occupational injuries among municipal solid waste collectors is lower than other similar studies conducted in Ethiopia. Based on the finding of this and other studies, job rotation among work components, improvement of employees’ income, job specific guideline regarding maximum production limits, and replacement of bags and bins with wheeled containers are an interventions expected to cope with the problem. There is also a need of specific periodic health surveillance (PHS) for refuse collectors to detect early signs of work related complaints and to monitor work ability.

Knowledge on occupational health hazard and safety practices among the municipal solid waste handler

“…In this study majority of respondents (60%) have got work experience greater than 20 years and 92.4% have got salary more than NPR 18,500 which might have improved their job performance and chance of better treatment due to which 25.4% were found to be less exposed to work-related injury which was lower than other studies 34.3 % in Amara region of Northwest Ethiopia 13 and 43.7% in Addidas Ababa City 6 .…”

Evaluation of the Perception and Control Measures towards Environmental Risk in Obio Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State

“…On the perception it was revealed that majority of the respondents under survey had a good knowledge of health risk and were fully aware of the environmental health risk associated with waste dumping and this correlates with the findings of Eskezia et al [11].…”

Reduction of work accidents through the implementation of containers for solid waste collection

“…Worldwide, there have been several studies on work accidents and safety and health risk management. In Paraguay, a study conducted by Flores, Carvalho e Radon (2018) concluded that each year about 37.5% of collecting workers suffer work accident; which is in accordance with the data published by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE, 2010) showing a percentage of 35%; and in accordance with the data from Ethiopia showing a percentage of 34.3% of collecting workers suffering accidents every year (Eskezia ET AL., 2016). The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from USA (United States of America, 2017) show similar results, stating that the activities of waste collection and maintenance are one the top five services which were responsible for most accidents, with the risk for waste collectors being 10 times higher compared with the mean value from all other sectors in the USA.…”