Assessment of Occupational Health Hazards Associated with the Quarry Workers in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State

¹Asiegbu W.O.I., ¹Amadi A.N., ^2* Ede A.O., ¹Amadi C.O.A., ² Nwazunku A.A., and ² Obasi K.O.

¹Department of Public Health, School of Health Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria.

²Department of Environmental Health Science, College of Health Sciences and Technology, Nnewi Campus Nnamadi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.

^*Corresponding Author’s: E-mail Addresses ✉: edeokorie@mail.com

Accepted November 25, 2019

The study aimed to assess the occupational health hazards among quarry workers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The study employed a cross sectional study that deals with observational and clinical examination that involved the measurement of outdoor gaseous pollutants, interview of participants with a well structured questionnaire and ocular examination of participants. The completed and collected questionnaire was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21.0. The results were presented in frequency tables and percentages in line with the research objectives. A total of 212 subjects participated in the study, 92(43.40%) were males while 120 (56.60%) were females. The result showed that sneezing (79.40%) followed by cough (58.45%) were higher among crushed stone quarry-related disease compared to other diseases. It was reported that 34.26% of the subjects have developed ocular signs of cataract occurrence. Also, 31.3% of the subjects have developed ocular signs of blurry vision, 27.17% had itching and 15.5% had eye irritation as ocular symptoms. In terms of knowledge, 180(84.91%) of the subjects reported that noise is one of the sources of pollution, 182(85.84) strongly agreed that dust is main source of pollution. For prevention aspect, 107(50.47%) reported that dust must be sprayed with water to reduce air pollution and 111(56.76%) said dusty haul roads must be watered regularly. In conclusion, the result showed a significant relationship between quarry activities and health problems because exposure to gases can have major health implications. Therefore, the quarry workers should be encouraged to comply with personal protective equipment to protect their health.

Key words: Dust, air pollution Health, Hazards, Occupation, Quarry.

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