1. WORKER CHARACTERISTICS AND COMPLIANCE TO OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY OF WOOD WORKERS IN NAJA DAVID WOOD INDUSTRY LIMITED IN KUMASI, GHANA.
- Author
-
AKUOKO, KOFI OSEI, KWAKU YEBOAH, MARTIN, DE PAUL KANWETUU, VINCENT, and ADWOA KWANKYE, ELIZABETH
- Subjects
INDUSTRIAL hygiene ,INDUSTRIAL safety ,WOODWORKERS ,OCCUPATIONAL hazards ,WORK-related injuries - Abstract
Research reports indicate that wood workers in Ghana are exposed to various types and degrees of occupational hazards ranging from bacterial, viral and chemical infections to physical injury and accidents. It is also a known fact that there is no comprehensive national policy on occupational health and safety (OHS) except Act 651 of the Labour Act 2003 which enjoins employers not to expose their employees to conditions that would lead them to work related injuries or illnesses. Notwithstanding the requirements of the Act and efforts made by companies in the Ghanaian wood industry at ensuring that employees work in safe and healthy conditions, wood workers face a lot of hazards at work. Thus, the questions which remained unanswered were: what health and safety mechanisms or specific policies were in place to regulate the activities of workers such that they did not fall victim to disasters? What characteristics of workers may lead them to violate company codes on occupational health and safety? These questions and several others formed the bases for which a survey questionnaire administered to 150 respondents in the Naja David Wood Industry to find out the role of sex, age, education and experience on compliance or non-compliance to occupational health and safety. The results revealed that age, education and experience play significant role in ensuring compliance whereas sex does not play significant role in ensuring compliance to occupational health and safety. The results further indicated that unavailability and low usage of personal protective equipment (PPE) increased the risk of getting involved in accidents. The study thus, recommended constant provision and replacement of PPE for workers to use at work. Immediate supervisors should also be officially empowered to enforce usage of PPE and punish violators as way of preventing accidents at work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013