Assessment of the Prevalence of Occupational Health Related Injuries and Use of Safety Measures Among Employees in Brewery Factory in Rwanda :

Abstract

Background Worldwide, occupational health related injuries have become potential public health issue leading to disability and death causing abandonment of work. Rwanda is one developing country which is at risk of having work related injuries due to the fact that its industrial economy is growing at a very fast rate which has attracted many investors in industrial sector. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of occupational health related injuries and use of safety measures among employees and specifically to identify the types of occupational health related injuries suffered by the brewery employees, establish the occupational safety measures in place at Bralirwa processing industries in Gisenyi Rwanda and identify factors influencing use of occupational safety measures among the brewery employees in Bralirwa processing industries in Gisenyi Rwanda Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study design carried out in Bralirwa processing industries in Kigali Rwanda from August to October 2012. This study employed mainly quantitative methods of data collection. A sample of 220 respondents was selected. Quantitative data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires and observational check list. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17 and Stata soft ware computer packages. The study findings were summarized using proportions, percentages, frequencies and presented tabular format and figures. Results Majority 72.7% (160/220) of the respondents were male. Half 50% (110/220) of the respondents were in the age range of 31-45 years. The findings indicated that 86.4% (190/220) of the respondents reported having suffered from occupational health related injuries. The injuries suffered were mainly physical injuries like falls, cuts and electrocutions. The ergonomic related injuries were mainly many 25.5% (56/190) of them reported falls, 21.8% (48/190) reported cuts, 17.7% (39/190) reported electrocution, only 8.6% (19/190) and 4.5% (10/190) reported fractures and dislocations as ergonomic risks experienced by them in the last 12 months respectively. The factors influencing use of occupational safety measures cited by the respondents included provision of personal protective equipment, training at work place on use the safety equipment, regular supervision, job satisfaction, sleeping disorders, alcohol consumption and work related risk experience (ever got injury). Conclusions Physical and ergonomic injuries, falls, cuts, electrocutions, fractures and dislocations were the most prevalent injuries suffered by the employees at at Bralirwa processing industries Gisenyi, Kigali Rwanda. The factors noted to influence use of occupational safety measures at Bralirwa processing industries included provision of personal protective equipment, training of the workers on use the safety equipment, regular supervision, job satisfaction and alcohol consumption Recommendations The industry management should carry out regular OSH assessments and meeting as required by national law and follow up on risks identified during the assessment. And supervision should be tightened to ensure that all workers at the job put on personal protective equipments.