Exposure to occupational hazards among bakers and their coping mechanisms in Ghana

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic and Socio-economic characteristics of the respondents

Variables	Category	N = 172	Percentage
Gender	Male Female	70 102	40.7 59.3
Education	None Basic School Secondary/Vocational Tertiary	71 68 28 5	41.3 39.5 16.3 2.9
Work Experience (years)	Below 2	3	1.6
	2–4	32	18.6
	5–7	31	18.0
	8–10	10	5.8
	Above 11	96	55.8
Total Income (GHS)	Below 500	11	6.4
	500–1000	161	93.6

Table 2. Effects of flour dust reported by dough mixers (N = 16)

*Effects	N	%
Runny nose	16	25
Excessive cough	16	25
Wheezing	16	25
Irritation of the eye	16	25
Total	64	100

*Multiple responses.

Table 3. Exposure to Smoke and measured adopted by Bakers

Variable	Employers		Employees				Total for employees
			Pan cleaners		Oven bakers
	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%
Exposed to smoke)
Yes	19	49	38	97	39	100	77	99
No	20	51	1	3	0	0	1	1
*Effects of smoke
Itching of the eye	18	33	38	27	39	25	77	26
Excessive cough	14	26	38	27	38	24	76	26
Wheezing	12	22	38	27	38	24	76	25
Stuffy nose	10	19	25	19	42	27	67	23
*Measures adopted
Staying away from fire	16	35	33	46	36	43	69	45
Frequent break	2	4	3	4	23	27	26	17
Adjustment of ovens	4	9	0	0	12	14	12	8
Working in an open space	16	35	31	44	9	11	40	25
Active ventilation	4	9	3	4	2	3	5	3
Nothing is done	2	4	1	2	1	1	2	1
Chimney provided for the oven	2	4	0	0	1	1	1	1

*Multiple responses were possible so the frequencies may be more than the required sample size.

Figure 1. Measures adopted against fire hazard.

Table 4. Effects and strategies adopted against high temperature

Variables	Employer		Employees
	N	%	N	%
*Exposure to effects of high temperature
Burns	36	80	28	33
Fainting	0	0	4	5
Scalds	3	7	20	23
Dizziness	6	13	34	39
*Strategies
	N	%	N	%
Physical barriers	34	47	39	28
Rest breaks	31	42	39	28
Manual regulations	0	0	39	28
Staying hydrated	8	11	24	16

*Multiple responses were possible so the frequencies may be more than the required sample size.

Table 5. Exposure of Bakers to Biological Hazard and Control Measures Adopted

Variable	Employers		Employees								Total for employees
			Pan Cleaners		Slicers		Oven bakers		Mixers
	n	%	N	%	n	%	n	%	N	%	N	%
*Exposure
Mosquitoes	25	83.0	39	87.0	37	80.0	8	89.0	16	34.0	100	69.0
Insects	5	17.0	6	13.0	6	13.0	1	11.0	16	34.0	29	20.0
Rodents	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	15	32.0	15	11.0
*Effects of exposure
Malaria	27	75.0	42	89.0	38	95.0	8	100.0	17	51.5	105	82.0
Physical weakness	9	25.0	5	11.0	2	5.0	0	0.0	16	48.5	23	18.0
*Control measures
Wearing long-sleeved clothes	21	48.8	39	50.0	39	50.0	8	50.0	16	61.5	102	52.0
Use of mosquito repellents, coil	22	51.0	39	50.0	39	50.0	8	50.0	10	38.4	96	48.0

*Multiple responses were possible so the frequencies may be more than the required sample size.

The predominant effect of bakers’ exposure to biological hazards was malaria (Table 5).

Table 6. Exposure of Bakers to Psychosocial hazard

Variable	Employers		Employees								Total for employees
			Pan cleaners		Slicers		Oven bakers		Mixers
	n	%	n	%	n	%	N	%	N	%	n	%
*Types
Stress	39	100.0	39	41.0	39	54.9	39	38.0	16	100.0	133	47.0
Poor inter personal relationship	0	0.0	34	36.0	24	33.8	31	31.0	0	0	89	31.0
Verbal abuse	0	0.0	22	23.0	8	11.3	31	31.0	0	0	61	22.0
*Effects
Low productivity	33	58	31	49.0	33	63.5	28	33.7	16	100	108	50.0
Poor concentra tion	12	21	14	22.0	7	13.5	20	24.0	0	0	41	19.0
Injuries	0	0	9	14.0	2	3.8	28	33.7	0	0	39	18.0
Absen teeism	8	14	7	11.0	5	9.6	3	3.6	0	0	15	7.0
Presen teeism	4	7	2	4.0	5	9.6	4	5.0	0	0	11	6.0
*Strategies adopted
Showing respect	39	39.0	39	41.0	39	35.0	39	37.0	16	34.0	133	37
Report of dispute	39	39.0	39	41.0	39	35.0	39	37.0	16	34.0	133	37
Reduce work hours	23	22.0	18	18.0	33	30.0	28	26.0	15	32.0	94	26

*Multiple responses were possible so the frequencies may be more than the required sample size.

These psychosocial hazards affect workers and their families as well as their jobs since sickness is related to the loss of productivity and hence low incomes.

Table 7. Exposure of Pan Cleaners to Chemical hazard

Variable	Employees (Pan cleaners)
	N	%
*Effects
Irritation of the eye	28	56.0
Whitlow	22	44.0
Rating of exposure
Very High	25	89.0
High	3	11.0

*Multiple responses were possible such sum of frequency is more than the required number of the sample size for pan cleaners.

Due to the chemicals used in the preparation of the local soap “Azuma blow” cleaners, develop whitlow and parts of their skin peel off.

Table 8. Exposure of Bakers to Ergonomic hazard

Variable	Employers		Employees								Total for employees
			Pan cleaners		Slicers		Oven bakers		Mixers
	n	%	n	%	n	%	N	%	n	%	N	%
*Effects
Lower back pain	39	20	39	26	39	24	39	20	16	20	133	23
Shoulder pain	39	20	39	27	39	24	39	20	16	20	133	23
Neck pain	39	20	39	27	39	24	39	20	16	20	133	23
Pain in the hand	39	20	14	10	39	24	39	20	16	20	108	19
Muscle spasm and pain in the leg	39	20	14	10	7	4	39	20	16	20	76	12
Rating of exposure
Very high	39	100	20	51.2	25	64.1	31	79.5	14	87.5	90	68
High	0	0	19	48.8	14	35.9	8	20.5	2	12.5	43	32
*Control measures
Proper lifting	N/A		20	20.4	0	0	31	28.4	16	34	67	23
Continuous change in work posture			39	39.8	0	0	39	35.8	16	34	94	32
Mini breaks	39	100	39	39.8	39	100	39	35.8	15	32.0	132	45

*Multiple responses.