Safety Practices among Quarry Workers in Izzi Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Abstract

Quarry industries have been recognized as one of the workplaces with the highest rates of workrelated illnesses and injuries among all the occupational categories globally. Workers are exposed to potential hazards like inhaling of dust and they are prone to accidents such as burns, finger cuts, fractures, nose bleeds, fainting, shocks, scalds, gassing, and suffocation.The study assessed safety practices among quarry workers in Izzi Local Government Area (LGA), Ebonyi State. Three research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted. The population of this study comprised all the 274 quarry workers in Izzi LGA and all participated in the study. A self- developed Safety Practices Questionnaire (SPQ) was used for data collection.Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while t-test and One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistics were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level.Results revealed that quarry workers in Izzi LGA had poor safety practices (2.11± 0.24). Male (2.08± 0.23) and female (2.15±0.25) quarry workers had poor safety practices. Quarry workers with noformal education (2.04± 0.24), Primary Education (2.11±0.28), Secondary Education (2.19±0.18) and Tertiary Education (2.16±0.19) in Izzi Local Government Area had low safety practices in Ebonyi State. Furthermore, when demographic variables were compared, there were significant differences in the level of safety practices among quarry workers in Izzi LGA, Ebonyi State based on gender (p=0.027) and education level (p= 0.002). The study concludes that safety practices among quarry workers were poor, necessitating improved occupational safety measures. Poor safety practices might lead to higher health issues. However, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with Health Educators should organize seminar/workshops for quarry workers to create awareness on occupational safety practices in quarry industries.