A study of knowledge, awareness, practice and recommendations among Hong Kong construction workers on using personal respiratory protective equipment at risk

Pneumoconiosis is considered as one of the hazardous chronic health diseases in the Hong Kong construction industry. Most frontline workers lack proper education and their health and safety awareness is relatively low. Therefore, management of an organization plays a momentous role to implement the control of hazards within organizations and to incorporate health and safety into their operations. Personal protective equipment is designed, only after all health and safety measures, to remove and to control health and safety hazards. In the case of respiratory hazards, the hazard at source is impossible to entirely eliminate. Thus, wearing the personal respiratory protective equipment against the health and safety illnesses becomes critical. This paper examines awareness and attitude in using the personal respiratory protective equipment in the Hong Kong construction industry. Questionnaire survey and structured interviews are conducted. From the survey results, it is found that awareness and understanding of the health and safety hazards, is insufficient. Moreover, workers are not familiar with the risks of the equipment fitting, and health and safety. Health and safety awareness can influence health and safety attitude and behaviour. The low awareness of health and safety would make worker more vulnerable to illness. Recommendations to improve health and safety awareness and understanding of health and safety diseases are also given in this study