Knowledge, attitudes and adherence to occupational safety measures among fisherfolks in Banda sub county fish landing sites Namayingo district

Abstract

Occupational safety is defined as the science of anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control of hazards arising in or from the workplace that could impair the health and wellbeing of workers, taking into account the possible impact on the surrounding communities and the general environment. Fishing is one of the occupations with substantial risks which include but not limited to: drowning, assaults, skin infections among others Objectives The objective of the study was to assess knowledge, attitudes and adherence to occupational safety measures among fisher folks in Banda Sub County, Namayingo district. Methodology This study was a cross sectional survey, that was conducted in landing sites in four parishes that were purposively selected in Banda sub county Namayingo district using quantitative methods. . The sample size was 300 respondents, including different categories of populations involved in fishing activities. Data was collected using an interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS 20 which generated, frequencies, percentages. Findings Most of the respondents knew about occupational safety measures (82%) as they knew about the safety work procedures 195(65%) among others. 117(39.0%) fish folks indicated that have positive attitude towards occupation health measures., Fish folks sometimes use the protective gears 117 (39.0%) while others always use the protective gears 104(34.7%) and only 79(26.3%) have never used the protective gears. Conclusion Despite the considerable knowledge among fishermen and the positive attitude toward occupational health and safety measures, there is still a problem on the adherence levels among the fisher folks since the findings have indicated 26.3% have never used the protective gears. Recommendations Strict regulations on the landing sites should be put in place and also provide cheap protective gears to the fisher folks to increase on the adherence to the OSM