Physical and Chemical Health Risks and Control Measures among Woodworkers in Rivers State

Abstract

This study investigated physical and chemical health risks and control measures amongst wood workers in Rivers State. Twelve (12) research questions and six (6) hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design. The population of the study comprised 3679 registered members of unions in wood industries in Rivers State. A sample of 600 sawmill and furniture workers were selected from sawmill and furniture industries in the study area. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select the sample. A 64 item self-structured questionnaire titled “Physical and Chemical Health Risks and Control Measures of Wood Workers Questionnaire (PCHRCMWWQ) was used for the study. The instrument was validated and Cronbach’s alpha method was used to establish the reliability coefficient of 0.97 for health risks and 0.92 for control measures respectively. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions while regression inferential statistics was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed among others that workers in the sawmill and furniture industries in Rivers State were highly exposed to physical health risks with grand mean  (2.76), chemical health risk  (2.74). It was also found that the hazard control practices in the industries is poor with grand mean of (2.55) example nonuse of head protection at work , non-guarding of  machine on their rotating, pinch and sharp part to prevent injury. The authors recommended that employers of labor in sawmill and furniture companies should inculcate health and safety culture or hazard control measures in planning and work practices in the industries to prevent and minimize exposure to health risks..