Background:Street sweepers perform the work of cleaning public areas within cities to keep them free from wastes thrown by the public. They got exposed to a variety of risk factors such as dust, sunlight, accidents, sharps, and mechanical stress; making them susceptible to certain occupational illnesses and injuries. Thus the objective of this study was to assess perceived occupational related health risks and personnel protective gears availability and use among street sweepers in Mwanza City.
Method: This was a cross-sectional survey involving 168 street sweepers in Mwanza City. A pretested questionnaire was used to guide the interview during the study and inspection checklist was used among street sweepers and sweeping companies to check for availability and utilization of personnel protective gears. SPSS Version 17 statistical program was used for data entry and analysis.
Results: Eighty eight point one percent (148/168) of the street sweepers reported that their job exposes them to health risks. Reported occupational related risks were infections; 45.6% (82/180), dust/sunlight; 19.4% (35/180), road traffic accidents; 17.8% (32/180) and sharps in the waste; 16.1% (29/180). Despite being exposed to these risks, majority of sweepers were found to use only some of the personnel protective gears leaving behind important ones, only 7.7% (13/168) were using face masks and 12.5% (21/168) were using gloves while mostly reported health problems were chest problems; 41.7% (58/139) and injuries from cuts/ stabs by sharps; 76.8% (76/99).
Conclusion: Occupational related health risks were highly reported (88.1%) among street sweepers in Mwanza City with infections and injuries from accident (cuts/stabs by sharps). Hence, based on these results, there is a need for proper health safety provisions and early intervention strategies to minimize these adverse health effects in street sweepers.
= Key words: occupational health risks, street sweepers, personnel protective gears