Assessment of Health Hazards and Challenges among Poultry Workers in Egbeda Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

There are many factors that could lead to health hazards among the workers in the poultry business which invariably hamper their production and productivity over time. Hence, a study of assessment of health hazards/challenges among poultry workers in Egbeda local government area of Oyo State, Nigeria was conducted. Purposive sampling was used for selection of 6 villages from the study area while 80 respondents were selected with simple random sampling. Data was analyzed with both descriptive statistics (frequency distribution and simple percentages) and inferential statistics (pearson product moment correlation). The findings revealed some common health hazard challenges experienced as neck pains (53.8%), back pains, (45%), leg pains (41.3%) and general body pains (35%) among the poultry workers. In addition, the findings showed that most respondents in the study area contracted health hazards through injury (68.8%), poor working environments (62.5%) and unhygienic environment (55%). Furthermore, strategies dominantly used in managing the environmental hygiene/health were proper hygiene (81.2%), use of disinfectants (80%), vaccination (76.2%) and physical cleaning and clearing of wastes/dirt’s management (70%). Furthermore, the result revealed that there is significant correlation between management strategies and common hazards experienced by poultry workers in the study area (r = -0.481, p < 0.05). In conclusion, the findings revealed that the poultry workers were predisposed to a number of common health hazards/challenges. It is however recommended that the extension officers should disseminate necessary information management strategies for poultry health hazard. The community health officers should enforce and educate the poultry workers on proper hygiene practices to prevent epidemic in their work environment.

Keywords: Poultry Workers, Health Hazards Challenges, Occupational Work Safety