Awareness and practice knowledge of ocular health safety among street sweepers in Calabar, South-South, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Street sweeping is an increasing popular outdoor occupation in major cities of Nigeria. These workers are chronically exposed to diverse occupational and environmental sources of ocular hazards, that they may not be aware of. This may impair their adoption and compliance with the requisite safety practices. This study was aimed at assessing levels of awareness, knowledge, and practice of ocular safety among street sweepers in Calabar, Southern Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The study was a cross sectional study among one hundred and fifteen (115) street sweepers in Calabar Urban Development Authority, Nigeria over a period of three months. A systematic random sampling method was used to select respondents eligible for the study and a pretested semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to obtain data. Data obtained was analysed using statistical package for social sciences version 20 (Armonk, NY:IBM Corp.). RESULTS: One hundred and fifteen (115) subjects were studied, with mean age of 41.8 ± 10.4 years, and female to male ratio of 1:0.03. Seventy percent had good knowledge of ocular health safety; while 68% were aware of the occupational hazards associated with the job. Less than a quarter (19%) of workers used personal protective devices (PPD). Only 1% of the total who used PPD wore protective goggles while at work. CONCLUSION: Good knowledge and a high level of awareness on ocular health safety was seen among street sweepers. However, there was poor utilization of personal protective devices especially protective goggles among the workers which will increase their risk to occupational hazards. RUNNING TITLE: Awareness and practice knowledge of ocular health safet