Abstract:

Background: Hairdressing and barbering industry is one of occupations which employ significant number of young men and women. This population can be exposed to number of occupational problems such as poor posture, joint pain, prolonged standing, long working hours, missed meals, as well as being subjected to physical injuries. These problems can be reduced if barbershops and hair dressing salon are highly complying with occupational and public health regulatory and operational requirements (OHS and PH) as stipulated in occupational Health and safety Acts of 2003 and the Public Health Act of 2009. However, there are disparities and relaxations in terms of compliance to the OHS and PH. This study aimed at assessing compliance to OHS & PH and associated factors in salons.

Methods: This was a cross sectional study involving all hair dressers and barbers in Nyamagana district. The total number of 283 hair dressers and barbers in Nyamagana district will be involved. A presented structured questionnaire was used to determine socio-demographic data, knowledge, on compliance to occupational and public health requirements and associated factors in Nyamagana districts. Data was analyzed through IBM SPSS 20 computer program.

Results: This study has shown that over 90% of the respondents had positive attitudes of compliance with occupational and public health requirement among barbershop and hair dressers in Nyamagana. The findings revealed significant difference in prevalence by age, gender and area of residence. Factors that associated with compliance and public health requirement among barbershop and hair dressers was found to be high cost of instruments, age and area of residence .

Conclusion: Attitude towards compliance with occupational and public health requirement among barbershop and hair dressers in Nyamagana was positive. Setting-specific interventions and innovations are critical in improving community member health, given the observed differences between different factors. The campaign messages to increase magnitude of sterilization of instruments among barbers and hair dressers should be tailored to all barbers and hair dressers. Knowledge-based interventions should enhance the understanding of the risk factors for using instruments without sterilization.