Occupatıonal Health and Safety Status in Kamukunjı Jua Kalı Mıcro and Small Sızed Metal Enterprıses

Abstract

The study aimed to give an overview of occupational health and safety situation in Kamukunji Jua Kali enterprises’ area, Nairobi: workplace characteristics, socio-demographic features and working life characteristics of the employers and employees, health and safety practices, hindrances and possible solutions to improve occupational health and safety conditions. Data was collected from 222 workplaces, 88.8% participation rate was achieved. A descriptive study design was implemented. Three types of questionnaires were used in data collection: Workplace assessment form filled by the researcher, employer questionnaire, and an employee. Most enterprises (81.9%) had some or all of tasks done in open air, 63.8% had inadequate working space, and a mean of 3.48±1.9 employees per enterprise. The most common hazards were mechanical and sharp objects (99.5%), and noise (98.2%) and heat (78.6%); hazard control measures were inadequate. Most of the respondents were male (99.1% of employers and 76.8% of employees). The employers’ and employees’ mean ages were 44.7±5.2 and 29.8±5.4 respectively. 98.6% of employers worked actively in the enterprise beside managerial duties. Health and safety audit not carried out in over 97.2% of enterprises. Over 94.0% of respondents acknowledged presence of hazard in workplace with over 73.8% reporting headaches, muscular pains in the shoulder and neck as health effects resulting from work. Planning difficulties (26.8% employers), inadequate support from the government were listed as serious hindrances by majority (32.3% employers, 88.7% employees), over 60% of employees also considered lack of information on health and safety as serious obstacle to safety and health. This study concludes that there are quite a lot of hazardous exposures in the jua kali SME sector with low health and safety practices. There is need for better OSH services and more focused analytical and interventional researches.