Level of awareness and factors associated with exposure to occupational health hazards among street cleaners in Eldoret Town, Uasin Gishu county

Abstract

Objective: Street cleaners are unprotected from a range of health hazards in their day-to-day activities of removing harmful pollutants from the streets. The main aim of this study was to assess the level of awareness and factors associated with exposure to occupational health hazards among street cleaners in Eldoret Town, Uasin Gishu County. Setting: The study was conducted in Eldoret town, Uasin Gishu County. Design: The study adopted a cross sectional survey research design. Participants: The study’s participants were street cleaners. Since the target population was small, census design was adopted. Data were collected using questionnaires. Data analysis was done using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The study targeted 70 street workers who all of them participated in the study. This gave a response rate of 100%. Study results revealed that 55(78.6%) of the respondents were exposed to health hazards daily. Further, majority 52(74.3%) of street cleaners were not aware of administrative procedures regarding the management of hazard exposure. In addition, 55(78.5%) of street cleaners are not aware of well-developed preventive maintenance programs. The main factor associated with exposure to hazards is level of education (ꭓ2=21.417, df=8, ‘p=0.000). Conclusions: The study concluded that the level of awareness on health hazards and prevention measures among street cleaners in Eldoret town, was low. The level of education is associated with exposure to these health hazards. There is need for training of cleaners on the personal protective equipment usage and its importance so as to promote awareness and reduce occupational hazards.