Original Research Article
Year: 2016 | Month: April-June | Volume: 1 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 70-79
Awareness Pattern of Occupational Hazard and Attitude to Preventive Measure among Bank Cashiers in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria
Michael E. Aisuodionoe1, Gideon I. Ogu2, Cynthia A. Oguzie1
1Department of Public and Community Health, Novena University Ogume, Delta State, Nigeria.
2Department of Biological Sciences, Novena University, Ogume, Delta State, Nigeria.
Corresponding Author: Michael E. Aisuodionoe
ABSTRACT
Occupational hazards are incidents arising from the environment in the attempt to perform task in any occupation. These hazards usually impact on the health of workers negatively hence the need for the use of adequate personal protective equipment when performing various tasks. The banking industry’s major working tool is cash which is processed by cashiers. The objectives of this study were to determine the knowledge level of the cashiers to occupational hazards in the banking industry, the attitude to the use of nose mask as a preventive measure, the utilization rate of the nose mask and the prevalence of respiratory disease symptoms among the bank cashiers in Oshimili South LGA of Delta State. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out between May-August 2015 using a structured self-administered questionnaire. The data obtained was analyzed with EPI-Info 3.5, 2008 windows version. A total of 306 respondents with the mean age of 28.6 ± 4.6yrs answered the questions correctly. Most of the respondents were female (52.3%). The knowledge of the cashiers of occupational hazards was good (99.3%) and the cashiers also showed good attitude towards the use of preventive measure like nose mask (99.7%). Their utilization rate of the nose mask was good (82.4%) while the prevalence of respiratory disease was low (4.9%). There was no statistically significant association between knowledge of occupational hazards and utilization of nose mask. Also there was no statistically significant association between attitude to utilization of nose mask and prevalence of respiratory disorders. Majority of the bank cashiers in Oshimili South LGA of Delta State have good knowledge of occupational hazards and attitude towards the use of nose mask as a preventive measure hence the low prevalence of respiratory symptoms observed. However, the study recommended a continuous provision and maintenance of adequate ventilation in all counting rooms, continuous bank’s safety training program and regular provision of quality Nose masks for the cashiers.
Keywords: Bank, Nose mask, Respiratory symptoms, Occupational hazard.