Abstract:
Sawmill Workers (SW) are exposed to occupational hazards that may impact on their respiratory health. They have been reported to have poor knowledge on occupational hazards, safety measures and practices. The Belief, Attitude, Subjective Norms and Enabling Factors (BASNEF) model of Health Education had been used to improve workers knowledge, attitude and safety practices in other countries. However, its effects on sawmill workers in Nigeria have not been adequately reported. This study investigated the effects of BASNEF model-based personal protective equipment education programme on the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of respiratory protection among sawmill workers in Ibadan. The respiratory health of these workers was also assessed.
Four hundred SW recruited consecutively from four randomly selected sawmills in Ibadan metropolis and 400 NSW (controls) participated in the study’s cross-sectional survey phase. The second phase was a two-group quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test study with the sawmills randomly divided into two training and two non-training centres using the fish-bowl method. Forty-five participants each were randomly selected from the training centres (Training Group, TG) and non-training centres (Non-Training Group, NTG). Outcomes assessed were KAP using Personal Protective Equipment Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Questionnaire (PPE-KAPQ), LFI – forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and FEV1/FVC%) using the Micro Medical spirometer and respiratory health using the Respiratory Health Questionnaire (RHQ). The PPE-KAPQ was administered to both TG and NTG pre and four weeks post-intervention. Knowledge scores were classified as high (13-16), moderate (10-12) or low (00-09), attitude scores as positive (26-32), neutral (19-25) or negative (00-18) and practice scores as good (> 7), fair (3 – 7) or poor (<3). The TG received a 6-session health education intervention utilising the Basic Training Course in Personal Breathing Protection materials using the BASNEF concept. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent and paired t-test, Chi square and Pearson and Spearman correlation at α0.05.
The SW and NSW were comparable in age (38.77±11.11 vs 37.35±10.94yrs) and weight (65.82±12.10 vs 65.78±9.55kg) but the NSW were significantly taller (1.69±0.11 vs 1.63±0.08m). The SW had mean knowledge, attitude and practice scores of 65.4±14.4%, 61.6±11.9% and 15.6±22.8% respectively. The TG and NTG pre-training knowledge (62.9±16.0 vs 63.2±14.4%), attitude (60.3±12.8 vs 62.0±12.0%), and practice (15.3±17.9 vs 14.7±16.7%) scores respectively were comparable. The 28.5%, 23.4% and 76.0% improvements in knowledge (62.9±16.0 vs 91.4±3.6%), attitude (60.3±12.8 vs 83.7±8.4%) and practice (15.3 vs 91.3±9.7%) scores respectively for the TG were significantly higher than 2.2%, 0.9% and 2.2% for the NTG. The SW had significantly lower LFI than the NSW – FVC (2.52±0.60L vs 3.35±0.70L), FEV1, (1.73±0.49L vs 2.64±0.60L), FEV1/FVC (0.69±0.10 vs 0.79±0.06), PEFR (270.77±91.02L/min vs 402.43±94.18L/min).
Sawmill workers in Ibadan had poorer respiratory health profile than non-sawmill workers. The Belief, Attitude, Subjective Norms and Enabling Factors model-based personal protective equipment education programme was effective in improving knowledge, attitude and practice of respiratory protection among the sawmill workers. It is recommended for the training of workers who are exposed to wood dust on occupational hazard and safety practices.
Keywords: Wood dust, Occupational hazard, Personal protective equipment,
Health education, BASNEF model
Word count: 498
